Atomic Network
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Deadly Pandora. It's been a little while since the coalition Deadly Pandora & Neo Gospel was dismantled: the 3rd year of middle school has kicked off in Akihara City. Yet, as always, trouble knocks at the door and this time around it's a new terrorist gang named Atomic Network. Will Hikari Netto & Rock Man plus their allies be able to stand up to them? Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: A not so typical day

**Atomic Network**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: A not so-typical day**

16:16 PM (Japan Time), Thursday September the 25th, 2008…

"… And don't forget that you must hand over the report on Tuesday! See you tomorrow!"

A teacher walked out of a classroom while the students began to pick their things to leave.

"Phew! I hope I can complete the report this afternoon."

Hikari Netto, aged fifteen, sighed in relief.

He was wearing a middle school uniform and kept his hair as messy as always.

"Alright, Netto – kun. Then we should mark it priority number one of this afternoon's homework."

His brother Saito stood up from behind his desk which was placed directly behind that of Netto's.

The main difference between the two of them was that he had green eyes and his hair had a nicer symmetry to it.

"Gotta say it: this institute feels way more dynamic than the all-guys-school I used to go in Chicago! Japan sure feels different."

A teen guy walked over to them.

He looked around their same age and height: maybe he was some inches taller than either Netto or Saito.

He had neatly arranged blonde hair which ended at his neck's base and his eyes' irises were green emerald.

His facial features were rather smooth and suave, thus making him stand out somehow.

They walked out of the classroom into the corridor and all accessed their lockers to change their shoes.

"Heh, heh, heh! You haven't seen anything yet, Nelaus Rainon!"

"Sure, Hikari. What comes after the summer heat making the city stir crazy? They all get sloppy with the autumn wind?"

"You could sum it up like that." Saito grinned.

"So! Nelaus – kun. Did you make a move in the B Class?"

"Huh? Eh… A move in the B Class…? What do you mean, Miss Sakurai?"

"Tee, heh, heh. Have cha found my Kansai cousin?"

"No, Miss Ayanokouji."

"Yaito – chan! I'm clever enough to know ya have no Kansai cousin!"

"My ears are tickling! Are cha talking about me, Dekao?"

"Man."

"Yaito – chan… When will we stop these pointless jokes?"

"Ask cha buddy Prophet Jeremy, Tooru – kun!"

"Jeez."

"Cheer up, Hikawa and Ooyama! It's already Thursday!"

"Let's go pick the PETs."

Sakurai Meiru had joined the group by asking a question to Nelaus which he didn't seem to catch: Ayanokouji Yaito made one of her silly jokes: Ooyama Dekao knew it was a silly joke but she played hard of hearing to make him sigh in defeat: Hikawa Tooru rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of B Class, that new guy… Arashi Masuko, right? What kind of guy is he, Tooru – kun? You always seem to get along pretty well with the B Class guys." Netto brought up.

"Oh! He's a bit timid but we're slowly getting to know each other."

"That's nice to hear. Maybe I'll hook him up." Yaito grinned.

"Yaito – chan…! I hope you're not talking about "that"!" Meiru looked suspicious.

"Of course not, Meiru – chan! Like I'd do what that Twilight jerk was provoking you to do… Speaking of the jerk: what became of his smug Mistress and all after the DNN take-over?" Yaito asked.

"They got jailed again in Louisiana along with Kranos Opoulos, the "Deadly Pandora" boss… The other "Admin" guys were sent to different facilities across Ameroupe for security too…" Saito recalled.

They reached the foyer and the lockers so each one took out their keys and unlocked them to find their Link PETs inside of them placed in a charger: Nelaus picked his (golden and purple) and checked it out with a grin.

"Yo! Isaac. You there…?"

"Hey! Nelaus! How did it go?"

A heavily customized Navi projected from Nelaus' PET.

He was about a meter and eighty tall.

His face was young and looked like a guy on his teens: his eyes' irises were purple and they had a hint of amusement to them.

His helmet had a central ruby jewel over the forehead shaped like a cross having four triangle ends: eight lines radiated from the central of it and spread across its surface.

The helmet's main color was navy blue and it was filled with small round and random green dots.

His ear-pads had a white edge and a reddish central body: the Alphabet "I" letter colored purple had been printed there.

His neck had a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "V" protecting its base before the start of the chest: it had a cyan edge which split it into two halves the insides of which were colored yellow.

His shoulders were slightly curved square pieces with brown edges, a central silver matrix and five bronze paws forming out of the southern edge which weren't even 5cm long.

His main body color was blue and a central thin purple line spread from the neck's base until his waist, being interrupted by his chest emblem which had the same design as that of his ear-pads.

Some small jade-colored pieces made of two triangles aiming in opposite directions fused at their base were set in columns along the sides of his upper body: none of them were taller than 2cm.

His waist had a belt with three converging rectangular stripes of white edges and black body: they fused in a diamond having a gray body plus a repetition of his Navi emblem on its center.

His arms had purplish DNA imprints painted over their surface.

His forearm armor had a magenta matrix on them while his wrists were colored in a bronze color: his hands were blue in color too and they had a circle with a white edge the insides of which depicted the Katana "I" colored purple: some "stars" were drawn at random over the background of the symbol.

His legs had some round dots set along their height which contained a drawing: the edge was brown, the core of it was purple and eight slightly curved lines painted red stretched from the core: the gaps between each one were colored blue.

The knees contained a circling bracelet colored mahogany and having those two fused triangles on the front colored golden.

The boots were colored purple and had an eight-pointed sapphire set on the inward side just below the ankle: eight thin indigo lines spread from each spook of the sapphire and across the boot.

Overall he was very cool and looked advanced.

"Good. Did the ex-_senpai_ show his cloak around?"

"No. They're searching for him in Brazil but no luck insofar."

"Maybe he plans on waiting half a year before showing up and will be travelling across the world undetected…" Tooru muttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah… "Oh! Traveler! Thou have chosen the unending road which leads to the Pits of the Greater Evil God and the Lesser Demon God: beware of their deceit and turn back while you can!"… Dragon Hell's newest and coolest banner: printed and posted 2 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds ago! Translation from Chinese (simplified): courtesy of Sigma who beats Google Translate to it! Mwah, hah, ha!"

"Oh come on. That banner sounds like an RPG rip-off!"

Netto had turned on his classical Link PET and a customized Navi had popped out of it while quoting some proverb: Netto rolled his eyes upon hearing it.

"Sigma! Tell me you haven't messed with the VR System again."

Sigma was about two meters tall and colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area.

This spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.

Overall, he seemed to be tall and imposing.

"Well…" He trailed off with a grin.

"He hasn't! He hasn't forgotten the summer lesson." A Navi told Saito from his PET (colored green and white).

"I thought as much, Blood Shadow." Saito seemed to have expected it.

"Yeah… The only thing he does is have Michelangelo's VR copy fly across the air and dive for the enemy who run for it believing it's _Jaws_ which has come outta the film to eat them up…"

Blood Shadow, on the other hand, looked about the same height as Saito: his main color of choice was red.

He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"How _original_." Saito muttered with some dryness.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! I win by win and winning!"

"Oh come on." Roll protested.

"That's silly! Desu." Ice Man muttered.

"Guts, guts? The Sigma Amgis?" Guts Man made up a rhyme.

"Yeah! Keep it up!" Sigma seemed to like it.

"Oh no." Glyde sighed in defeat.

"The Blood Doolb? De guts?"

"No way…" Blood Shadow slapped his forehead with the left hand.

"Well! I'm going back and start working on the report. See ya!" Nelaus waved bye.

"Let's go, Netto – kun. Time to report a reporting reporter…" Saito suddenly made up some rhyme.

"What's with that mood, Saito – niisan?"

"Dunno. I just felt like it. See you tomorrow!"

16:31 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So? Did lame ripping it all guy show up, Boss?"

"No. But it's hard to check Brazil depending on where you want to look and how the guy could've disguised. He could've gone to some remote village and pass off as a Brazilian too…"

"I tried to explore the Reverse Cyber World…"

"And you found a taunt?"

"Sure I did… Ra's al Ghul together with his _ninja_ legions…"

"Lovely. Can you give me any other ideas, Omega?"

"Well, Boss…"

"Yahoo~!"

A guy and a Net Navi had been discussing inside of a room.

This room was shaped like a dome: the ground had the general form of the Hikari emblem although the straight line and the pyramid-like bases were placed at the north and south ends instead of being in the north-west and south-east ends like in Netto's bandana.

There were two half-hexagon spots which had been built such that the ground was thirty centimeters lower and covered in a grid-like material.

The corridor was only wide enough for one person to walk through and it had a small hole from which a rail originated around the middle point of it: it extended forward until it reached the spot where the man's armchair (which had a purple Alphabet "V" drawn behind it) was at.

A closed hatch could be seen set on the ceiling directly above this middle spot.

The far end had a control console a group of 3 LCD screens set in a curved manner over the console: the room had some circular LED lights (like the ones in traffic lights) set on the walls forming figures.

There was a black armchair set on the rail in front of the consoles.

A man was sitting on the chair.

He looked on his mid – twenties, had messy jet black hair and red eye irises.

He wore a grayish armor made of several plates joined together of an unknown material and two swords sheaths were attached to his black belt.

His arms and legs were also covered in plating and he had boots and gloves of the same material.

A purple ragged, stained and torn cape hung from the back of the shoulders and reached all the way to the floor.

"What was that, Omega?" The man in the armchair asked the guy with some surprise.

"Who else? Trill."

Omega, the Navi, was about one meter and eighty tall.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed calm and concentration while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.

"Yahoo! Oohay! Hooya! Ohoay! Trill came! Uncle Omega! Vadous - s_hachou_!"

"_S-shachou_? Where did you learn that word?"

"Trill heard it was cool!"

Trill was a child Net Navi: his face looked like that of 5 or 6 – years old child and he had green emerald irises.

He wore a yellow and white bodysuit and his emblem was blank: he had two pockets on both sides of the suit.

Two curious cone-shaped forms emerged from his helmet. He had two small spheres attached to the tips of them.

"W-well… But… Oh well. Don't mind it." He shrugged.

"Trill! You came up here again? When will you learn not to interrupt the adults when they're talking?"

"Ops! Iris – oneechan!"

A girl came into the room next.

She was about 14 or 15 years old and didn't seem to be much older than either Netto or Saito.

Her height could be approximately the same as theirs.

Her eyes' irises were colored green and abundant brown hair fell down across her back until it reached the waist: two largely white flowers adorned the sides of her head.

She wore a one-piece dress consisting on a white skirt reaching until the knees, more or less, while the dress itself was pink in color: she sported black knee-high boots as footing.

"I'm sorry for his behavior. He's still too hyperactive. And Dragon – san's strange tales don't seem to contribute to keep him calm either. The only thing is his children's TV series and picture-books."

"You could give him one of the Nintendo DS and let him play something like Mario or Kirby or Pocket Monsters… Those are games aimed at a young audience so…" Vadous calmly suggested.

"Oh! I hadn't thought of it."

"Yay! Mario! Jump! Coin! Mushroom!" Trill got excited.

"You'll find one in the adjacent storage bay along with some of the games: go have fun." Omega grinned.

"Yay! Ayy! Yya!"

He ran off towards the south end of the room and into a rectangular platform having a waist-high edge around it and two openings in the north and south ends: it quickly began to go down a diagonal shaft and Iris sighed.

"Trill! Wait for me!"

She walked towards there and calmly jumped into the shaft: Vadous smiled and looked in a better mood while Omega looked slightly satisfied with the situation.

"Well. I'll try to ask Davis if he's spotted anything weird."

"Go ahead."

"…flying machine which emulates the almighty Albatrosses and that is crossing the skies faster than Man can reckon with His finite reckoning capability…" An echoing voice rang out of the openings at each side of the central corridor.

"DRAGO~N HE~LL!" Vadous growled aloud.

Quick footsteps rang out along with a hum before he fumed: Omega slapped his forehead and sighed in defeat.

"Dragon… You just had to spoil Boss' good mood."

"GRHTNX! I'll have him make something eatable yet!"

"Now I'm glad I'm an android and I don't need to eat."

"Huff! I need something to cool off! I'll go to my room and play _Platinum_: it came out 12 days ago and I got my copy 8 days ago… I've finished the main plot and now I'm challenging the new Battle Frontier… It's really challenging!" He muttered.

"Sure… The Torn World, though, was as creepy as hell. Giratina makes honor to the myth surrounding its figure: that it lives on the "reverse side of our world"… Space isn't stable and time doesn't flow: gravity is mad as well… It was worth the 2 years' wait…" Omega muttered next.

16:46 PM (Japan Time)…

"… _Let's play Rock and Roll!_"

"… Not again…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Count Elec!"

"_Whoa! _Dr. Wily – sama!"

"Sweep the ground with those newbie guys on it and prove you're a competent "WWW Team" member!"

"_Roger! Here we go~! Stowaway soul of billion thundering typhoons: go round and round 'till you meet round 'em all!"_

Count Elec had begun to practice with his electric guitar in the Maha Ichiban's store-room: Elec Man sighed and Dr. Wily came in to encourage him so he began to sing.

"_You want a fight I'll give thunder and devil by evil and thunderbolt!"_

"How _brilliant_." Elec Man drily muttered.

"Oi! Elec! Are you sure you don't want to tag with that Paul McCartney guy in Liverpool?"

"Hinoken – sama…!"

"_WHAT! _Hinoken! _You moron! I'll teach you yet_!"

"What was that?"

"I'll teach you yet!"

"Oh yeah? Then come and I'll burn up that silly punk hairstyle!"

"HINOKEN!"

Hinoken had come up with a joke which Fire Man seemed to suspect it'd lead to a grim result and indeed: they were about to fight when Wily called out for Hinoken.

"Go fight the powered-up Viruses in the Internet City Virus Factory! Go!"

"Roger, Wily – sama! I'll show those guys my TRUE STRENGTH!"

"Oh boy…" Fire Man sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Tee, heh, heh. Hinoken's fake strength…!" Colored Man giggled.

"MADOI! Is this a conspiracy?"

"No." Iroaya Madoi dully replied.

"Hinoken! I gave you an ORDER!"

"Huh! R-roger, Wily – sama! Plug In! Fire Man, Transmission!"

"Maha Jarama – sama: the ordered spices have arrived." Magic Man reported in the meanwhile.

"Good, Magic Man."

"_Let's continue! And where drum and hum meet the dull hull came out along with the outlet and the inlet!"_

"Yo!"

"_OH MY GOD! WHAT'S THAT?_"

Count Elec had resumed singing before someone called out for his attention: he looked at the entrance of the store-room.

He could see a gigantic recreation of his face without hair and a big mouth which looked like it was made manually using cardboard and _paper mache_: two black boots came out from beneath it.

"Heh, heh, heh…" The "head" chuckled.

"Huh? Wait a min! That voice!" He recoiled.

Two hands came out from under the head and pulled it upwards to then throw it towards a corner of the room: a guy was revealed to have been hiding inside of the thing.

"Ta-dan and da-tan!"

"_YOU AGAIN! MORGAN'S TRIBE HEIR! I'LL GIVE YOU A LESSON YET!"_

"Ahem, ahem. Morgangantz. Charles Morgangantz."

Charles Morgangantz could be about a meter and seventy-five in height but his age was around his early 20s.

He had messy silver hair which spread slightly backwards and formed some spikes: his eyes' irises were blue.

His clothes consisted on a navy blue overcoat which had a central silver button about the waist: the coat then opened to expose his legs although it covered the rear of them.

He wore a black shirt beneath the overcoat plus black fingerless gloves on his hands: he also sported black jeans and sneakers.

The right shoulder contained blackish armor with an orange-colored edge and a silver button right over it which seemed to help it be gripped to the shoulder: three circles were then drawn on his right sleeve before a triangular piece of armor expanded over the hand: its main body was black too and it had orange edges.

His PET was colored silver and brown and had an emblem: it was a perfect golden-colored cross which was drawn inside of a silver circle having a brownish edge.

"And introducing Dave Bowman…!"

"Davis! Davis Henshman!"

He drew his PET and his Navi suddenly materialized by some effect of forming blocks of data which spun clockwise as data joined inside of the round space left by them in the center and then gained the basic humanoid form followed by the details.

"_Hah! The _Hauptmann_ came! Time to haupt a mann!"_

"Oh come on. Count Elec. That rhyme was too forced."

"Don't worry, Dave~… Hal will bring up 1024 reasons why he doesn't think it has any logic to begin with."

"Jeez. I know a kilobyte is 1024 bytes but…"

Davis' body suit was colored in a deep brown color and he appealed as being about a meter and eighty tall in height.

His eyes' irises were chestnut brown and his face seemed to be shaped after a man on his early 20s: he currently displayed some annoyance which they didn't bother to conceal.

His helmet's color was red and so were his boots and forearms: the helmet had the _kanji_ for "seigi" or "justice" written in a golden coloring vertically across his forehead's height.

The Navi seemed to wear a vest over his chest armor colored silver and having bronze edges: the vest also had the Alphabet character "D" colored golden set on each side of its body.

His arms contained four thin brownish stripes running down the north, south, west and east side of them until they drew four circles around the wrist: his forearms had extra armor over it colored in a grayish color plus a small red dome inside of each palm.

The legs' length had been designed to include a network of patterns interconnected by some nodes which were reminiscent of human nerves: the boots' front edge was shaped like a triangle and so was the heel: they apparently served as close-quarters combat weapons.

"Anyway! Count Elec. Before joining the cavalry you need a hair cut more proper of the cavalry." Davis got amused.

"_Not again! By George and Henry_!"

"Heh, heh, heh … Appealing to your past sovereigns, Count Elec?"

"Well yes, Dr. Wily – sama! _And now YOU get OUT right AWAY_!"

"Sing the tactical withdrawal trumpet, Dave, and let's get going!"

"Sure, Charlie~ Team."

Davis formed a trumpet and sang a tune before he and Charles ran off to the annoyance of Count Elec: Wily just chuckled under his breath.

_Now this is what I call an entertaining afternoon… Heh, heh, heh…!_

16:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hiya~… Number Man!"

"Oh! Isaac."

"Pyrururu! The cool customer… Pyu."

"So? What's the tale with Higure – sama?"

"With Yamitarou…? Huff. He's gotten into a weird mood and now wants to play _desperado_ by wearing a brownish cloak and hat and wielding a poster of a Muramasa Blade!"

"What?"

"Really?"

"You're Nelaus, right? Well. It's just as you heard."

Isaac had come to talk with Number Man (and Aqua Man too) and Number Man explained to him Higure Yamitarou's latest behavior: both and Nelaus were surprised.

"Maybe he needs some fright?" Isaac suggested.

"Maybe: it could make him land back to Earth."

"Then let's invoke Fright Man He Who Resides In Your Shelf."

"Oh come on! Shadow Man! Not those titles again!"

"Heh, heh, heh… I'm everywhere and nowhere at all!"

"I know you're inside of my shadow: you've kept on pulling that on me every time I come here."

Shadow Man emerged from Isaac's shadow and looked amused: Isaac and Number Man seemed to be fed up with his behavior.

"Shadow Man. Are you calling for trouble again?" Dark Miyabi questioned.

"Ask Ms. Trouble, the next-door neighbor."

"Very funny. Go chat with the Cut Man Brothers."

"The Cut Man Brothers? I'd heard of them: but weren't they deleted last year when the "Neo Gospel" campaign?" Isaac asked.

"Oh no. Those were but imitations. The real ones are still plotting to find a way to defeat Rock Man…"

"They're still at it even 4 years later?" Nelaus was surprised.

"They're persistent and stubborn, you see, Oh Young Neophyte Exiting From Some Training Halls."

"Hah, hah, hah. Patent some new _fantasy_ _manga_ already." Isaac drily replied without being surprised.

"So! Our Golden Guy is about to overcome the Silver Guy?"

"I dunno what the heck you mean to begin with."

"Let there be dragons and snakes and rats and owls!"

"What a weird cocktail." Number Man muttered with some sarcasm to his voice.

"De masu~! Hop and poh and oph and pho! DE MASU~! I challenge you with my Muramasa Blade! De masu!"

"Yamitarou acting like a MORON again…! Someone shower him in cold water and let's end this farce already."

"I'd say the same over here." Isaac glared at Shadow Man.

"Oh Glaring Glare Of Thousand Souls…"

"Huff. Let's go back, Isaac. I wanna have a lil walk to cool off before starting working on the report." Nelaus settled.

"Alright. I'll settle the score with you on another day."

"Come again anytime, stranger to this city."

Isaac sighed in exasperation and was retrieved as Nelaus shut down his holographic screen: Number Man glared at Shadow Man next.

"Well, well… Guess I'll be going to visit No One At All. Heh, heh, heh!"

17:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah! The fresh air feels good… At least it's not as violent as in Antarctica even though the hanger was perfectly isolated from the outside…"

"I know."

"You know it all?

"Jeez. That joke's getting outdated."

"Heh, heh, heh… Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

Nelaus walked down a street while looking in a good mood and pulling a joke on Isaac and he didn't find funny: he then stopped and looked across the street to see a guy examining a van's engine.

"Huh… Maybe it broke down?"

"Bah. They'll simply call for the car crane to tow them to the workshop and get it examined… Maybe they just forgot to add enough oil to begin with…" Isaac shrugged.

"… That registration plate… Is there really a "Mecha Province" here, in Japan, Isaac? And the contents… 06-66… Isn't that 666, the so-called "devil number" in the West?" Nelaus wondered aloud.

"Why. You're right."

"… Something about that van reeks… Well. I'll comment it to Detective Misaki when I see him: maybe it's supposed to take part in some festival or competition and such they get told to come up with "cool" plates to begin with… Let's go back." He thought aloud while rubbing his chin.

"That could be. And you really should begin working on the report."

BANG!

"Ugah!"

"What! Nelaus!"

A shot had rang out from the van's left open window and Nelaus collapsed face-up on the ground 3 meters from the van: the guy looking at the engine quickly closed the lid, climbed in, and the van shot away: Isaac materialized and drew a Mega Cannon Battle Chip which he shot but given his shocked and angered state his aim wasn't good enough and the van got away.

"DAMN YOU~!" He growled.

He crouched next to Nelaus and opened his shirts to see that he had a bullet wound above the stomach area but it wasn't bleeding: he seemed to have lost consciousness, though.

"Shit. Quick, the emergency number…!"

He dialed a number and it soon connected.

"Hello? Emergency number? I need help: someone got shot in Kanrou Street, Akihara City, and they've fainted! The wound doesn't look like it hit anything vital but I wouldn't trust it! 10 minutes? Alright! I'll try to check if it's supposed to be grave or not…"

Isaac finished the call and cursed under his breath: he carefully grabbed Nelaus' right wrist to test his pulse.

"It feels normal enough… So maybe he fainted out of shock or some other reason? So who the heck were those guys? They weren't part of any competition then! And unlike in Ameroupe, gun usage here in Japan is very regulated: guns like these tend to be gotten from the black market…"

He pressed two fingers (the right hand's index and middle finger) against the right side of his neck next.

"Nothing weird over here… But why would they shoot him? Ah! Our talk about commenting to Detective Misaki…! They got panicked and tried to prevent us from telling the Net Police…! So they're up to something highly illegal, I guess! Damn them!"

He heard the ambulance's sound and stood up while sighing.

_You're a strong guy, Nelaus… You can make it through this… Who did it?_

19:34 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Huh? Unh… Huh… Y-yeah… W-where am I?"

"Calm down. You're in the hospital. You got injured."

"Huh… That bad…?"

"You don't remember what happened?"

"I feel very foggy…"

Nelaus slowly woke up and found his sight to be very blurry: a medic was talking with him but he didn't seem to remember what had happened: he could notice he had an oxygen mask on and heard the beeping of some devices close by.

"Well. You were shot but the bullet only grazed your ribcage and didn't hit any vital organs: the shock of it made you faint."

"Huh… I see." He muttered.

"I think you'll be discarded by tomorrow: just stay during this evening to make sure there are no post-surgery complications but it's highly unlikely, anyway. That won't leave any physical sequels on you."

"T-thank you. _Sensei_."

"It's nothing: I'm just doing my duty."

The medic came out and Nelaus' sight got clearer: he looked at his left and spotted Isaac sitting on a chair there and looking tense.

"So. You're awake." He calmly greeted.

"Isaac… Someone in that van shot me? But… Why?"

"They had to be someone doing something illegal and they surely got scared when we started to chat about telling Detective Misaki: I rang Vadous and Prism Man to pass on the info. The class dropped by and they left those there." He sighed.

He signaled a bunch of flowers and some "get better" cards which had been left there: there also was a Mega Guts Punch Battle Chip there with a note which said "get better, chu" and signed "Chisao": Nelaus managed a little chuckle.

"I also had to tell Uncle and he's going to ask for some favors too: nobody shoots at Net Savior and gets away with it so easily."

"Huh… Yeah. Guess that… Good _sense_…"

"Heh. You got that from that Liquid Ocelot guy… You asked Omega to lend us a spare PS3 and a copy of _MGS4_ because you wanted to check it out after Twilight had played some of the mottoes in the summer… And it really is a cool game… It's nice because it includes these flashbacks for those who haven't played the other games…" Isaac grinned.

"I know… I like creeping on those guys from behind and tell them "don't move" to then see their reactions… The details to the levels and the countless sneaking manners or fighting manners… No wonder they spent 4 years working on it…"

"I rather think these guys were small fry and I guess that once their bosses get a hold of that they'll be regretting it A LOT… Their own fears will result in a full-scale investigation and sweeping of any notorious organized crime branches… I don't think they'll be able to escape being noticed and even if they change vans or try hiding they'll make a mistake: we'll lock 'em up…"

"Inside of a smelling drum…?" Nelaus made up a joke.

"Jeez. That wasn't funny, Nelaus."

"I guess that… Wasn't Funny Guy has clicked the "I like" button on your own Facebook profile."

"I don't have a Facebook profile to begin with, Nelaus."

"Kidding ya~… Well! No big deal. Heh, heh, heh. And now… Nap and zzz!"

Nelaus began to rest and Isaac rolled his eyes: he sighed and shrugged.

_Well. At least Nelaus' mood hasn't changed! But I've got a bad feeling…_


	2. Chapter 2: Terrorism

**Chapter 2: Terrorism**

17:50 PM (Japan Time), Saturday September the 27th…

"… At least that of Thursday ended up in just a fright…"

"I know, Netto – kun… I'm surprised the investigation hasn't found at least the van… They could've sloppily dropped it or abandoned it on some back-street somewhere…"

"Bah. Let's not get gloomy, Rock Man."

"OK. I've got the Battle Chips you wanted and I'm going to walk down the rest of the path to our PC: it's just 70 meters."

"Roger, Regor!"

"Isn't that a parody of "Gregor" to begin with?"

"Ask Trill! He's fond of making rhymes and anagrams."

"Ah. Alright. I thought Sigma had come up with that."

Rock Man was walking down an Internet City street and talking with Netto at the same time who quoted a rhyme by Trill: Rock Man wasn't too surprised by that.

"Mwah, hah, hah… My ears are burnin'! Are ya talkin' 'bout my scary hide~?" Sigma joked.

"Could be." Blood Shadow drily replied.

"So? Are ya gonna make a move before the lil girl beats ya to it?"

"… Don't mention that in public." Blood Shadow annoyingly replied.

"Oho. Blood – chan got annoyed!"

"Commander Omega is going to get annoyed once he figures out the next silly thing you've had Michelangelo's VR copy do."

"YIKES!"

"Sigma… You always have to be asking for trouble!" Rock Man muttered.

"… Oi. Didn't you hear like the rumbling of a storm?"

"Impossible. There have never been any storms here."

"But 4 years ago…?"

"That was those "Gospel" dudes…"

Rock Man stopped when he heard some conversations which began to ring out close by amongst passerby Navis as the rumbling of a storm rang out and light began to fade: he turned around to see storm clouds advancing and the rumbling intensifying.

"Twilight got bored of laying low? About time…" He wasn't too surprised about the phenomenon.

The storm seemed to intensity and thunderbolts rained down to hit the ground and buildings: the blocks hit remained electrocuted and some Viruses having a "beastly" appearance to them began to pop out from those spots too.

"The "Juuka Viruses" or "Bestialize Viruses" Twilight had installed here in the summer when he turned this into a "Beyondard" recreation… They're harder to beat than usual Viruses but not that troublesome either: at least these Mettools don't know how to hide under their helmets."

"Speaking of Viruses, we haven't met Zero for a week already." Netto brought up along the way.

"He's helping Colonel Talos' computer department run searches in Brazil or so Boss told me…" Blood Shadow commented.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Some thrill!"

"Alright. You can go and assess if they're much of a threat or not, Sigma, while I'll be staying here just in case."

"Hah, hah, hah…Hah, hah, hah… Plasma Ring!"

A ring of bluish flames 5 meters in diameter formed around Rock Man and they quickly rose to gain a height of over two meters: he wasn't surprised and looked rather unimpressed.

"Twilight. If this is supposed to be your newest ability then it looks like a Burner Man imitation."

"Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah…"

"Huh? Your voice sounds different… Ah. You're imitating Laser Man, who got busted by Shirakami way over 3 years ago… Why don't you show your hide or your "Nebula Grey" freakish thing?"

"Wrong… This is not Twilight's work… But it is the work of "Atomic Network", Rock Man EXE!"

"What?"

A figure could be made out standing north of him and beyond the walls of flames: they formed an opening and a Navi stepped in.

"My name is… Plasma Man!"

Plasma Man was about a meter and ninety tall.

The head, which had a dome-like shape, was covered by a helmet with "y"-shaped black shades: the same radiation emblem in a smaller scale was set on the newcomer's forehead and the helmet's color was a grayish metallic color.

His main body color was a shade of cobalt.

The emblem was the universal "radiation" symbol colored yellow and black and with circuitry patterns colored blood red drawn all over its surface.

Two curved blue stripes which originated above the emblem formed a "v"-like opening below the neck rather reminiscent of a shirt's or a tuxedo's neck area.

The newcomer had two teal brown square-shaped shoulders from which his arms, which were had a black and yellow matrix set on them, emerged: his hands had a small round red blood jewel set on the palms.

Two cylindrical tubes were placed behind the shoulders in a 45º angle: they looked like gas exhausts.

His boots were colored black and had white stripes set on them: two black stripes travelled from the rim of the boots upwards along the body until the chest.

"So you're newcomers." Rock Man calmly replied.

"Correct! Hikari Saito!"

"What? How can you know THAT?"

"Hah! Kranos Opoulos knew from Anaya Maria: we got the information from their servers!"

"So you want to overcome the feats of the coalition "Neo Gospel" and "Deadly Pandora", then."

"Wasn't that obvious?"

"And this storm is your own idea of your inaugural acts: you wanted to make us think Cloud Man had sprouted it."

"Huh? No. That wasn't our goal. But! Whatever!"

"Ah. So the guys of two days ago worked for you."

"Hmpf. They did. But they failed their job and they got disposed of: there's no room for failures!"

He suddenly lifted his arms skywards to make his cannons aim for Rock Man as they loaded up white plasma.

"I'll teach you about the searing hot agonic plasma!"

"Shadow Man would like to make a title out of that. If you guys end up fighting him then he's going to win by driving you to exasperation with them." Rock Man wasn't impressed.

"What in the… You're supposed to be cowering in fear!"

"I've been a "Net Savior" for almost 3 and half years by now. All this time of training in VR environments where new-gen battlefields are recreated have taught me to be cool and leveled in a fight. And your own design is but an imitation of Laser Man along with your echoing voice."

"CHE! Plasma Beam! Double Round!"

"Battle Chip, Monolith! Slot In!"

"I'm trying to make my way through going to the HQ using the secure link and then the Internet City warp… Stall for some time, Rock Man!" Sigma reported over the radio.

"Sure."

A black thick slab about two meters tall had formed and when Plasma Man shot the beams of it they bounced back before they hit the body itself and hit him instead having him fall into the circle of bluish flames: he grumbled and jumped back into the circle.

"By the protons! What the hell is that?"

"There's something named "doing your research beforehand"… If you'd done then you'd known of it because we've been using this tactic ever since last summer… Davis lent it to me." Rock Man shrugged.

"Heh, heh, heh! These guys got impatient and they forgot to do their homework: guess their Boss is the type who forgets to properly iron the tuxedos before going to the casino." Netto made a joke.

"WHAT? DAMN YOU~!" He growled.

"Typical. That doesn't make you much different from Twilight who got like that when we taunted about Anaya Maria." Rock Man duly noted as he formed a Long Blade.

"I don't care! My strategy is perfect! Today you lowlifes will be annihilated and the others will follow suit: our agents will see to it!"

"Meh. If they're guys like the "Darkloids"… We can counter them and we'll find some weak point to them… No – one's perfect." Blood Shadow muttered aloud over the line.

"Mwah, hah, hah… I'll get there in just 33 seconds and Commander Omega is already ahead of me so he should get there in 26 seconds!"

"… Too late! _The end_!"

18:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… This guy's just getting cocky…"

"Sure… He's not fighting seriously: maybe he thought he wouldn't need to sweat even and his own arrogance is blinding him…"

"You don't think Twilight programmed him to behave like that and try to fool us?"

"Good point. It could be that he's programmed to say that or maybe he doesn't even know the ID of his Boss… If not even Shade Man knew Regal's ID at the start and took him some months to figure it out then it's not much of a surprise…"

"Battle Chip, Sigma Sword! Slot In!"

Netto was chatting with Blood Shadow's hologram as he guided Rock Man in the fight against Plasma Man: he drew a Battle Chip.

This Battle Chip depicted Sigma's gigantic sword but the edge had been altered to have green, brown and blue dots on both flanks and the main body had a central white stripe travelling it through it instead: the handle had the purple Greek symbol for "Sigma" along with the Hikari crest inside of its opening.

"Sigma Sword! Hra~h!"

Rock Man held it skywards and it glowed before he slammed it into the ground and formed a Dream Sword attack which travelled across the ground and hit Plasma Man: the explosion formed some cracks on his armor and he recoiled.

"T-this thing's overpowered! Instead of 500 HP of damage it does 800 HP of damage, you say?" He gasped.

"Yeah. And it's got several techniques on it: Sigma spent 2 months working on it because he wanted it to compensate."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah… I'm almost there!"

"This is Omega. I'm close to the scene: I'm dispatching a Virus herd."

"… It came!" Plasma Man suddenly sounded eager.

"What came?" Netto wondered.

"Maybe it's a distraction." Blood Shadow shrugged.

RATATATATATATATAT!

"UGRUGRA~H!"

"WHAT IN THE… HIKARI - KUN!"

A machinegun sound rang out very close by and Blood Shadow gasped as several bullets pierced through the closed balcony door and the curtain and hit Netto's left side of the body: he lost balance and collapsed face-up along with the chair dropping the PET while the bullets hit the far wall: the sound of a chopper's blades became audible as well.

"No way! How could they bring a military chopper so close by and then shoot the house? Fuck!"

Blood Shadow cancelled the hologram and materialized: he leant his body into the right side of the balcony as he loaded up his shotgun's barrels and then crouched next to the balcony and lied face-down taking profit that the bullets were shooting from a height of about a meter and fifty: he aimed his shotgun up.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

He shot two consecutive rounds of plasma which burnt through the curtain and melted the glass to hit something and an explosion ensued: smoke began to come in and the sound of the chopper began to dim: he violently tackled the balcony door to break it and ran out there to see a chopper with the DNN logo gaining height and smoke coming out of its "camera" installed under the cockpit.

"Shit. Not so fast!"

He dematerialized while Haruka rushed into the bedroom, being totally pale, and crouched next to Netto: he'd fainted and he had about six or seven bullet wounds on the left side of his torso.

"Kami – sama! Netto! Netto!"

"Ugra~h!"

"Hah! You lowlife lowered the guard! Now die!"

She gasped and spotted the PET's holographic screen which displayed Rock Man, who'd fallen to the ground and gotten some burnt marks on his body and portions of it had begun to get deleted as well: Plasma Man landed his right foot over his chest emblem and aimed both cannons at his head.

"Become a headless mourning soul!"

TCHACH!

"MUGRA~H!"

"Damn it!"

A blood red pyramidal blade pierced through him all of a sudden and it turned out Omega was the owner of it: the blade had a white pyramidal base and a rectangular hilt: Omega's eyes had become red stains and he was howling like a beast: Plasma Man warped and landed 2 meters south but then a gigantic hand closed over his head and gripped it: Sigma was behind him and he was effortlessly lifting him off the ground with just the left hand: Omega rushed forward and began to swing the blade across the air at a mad speed and to effortlessly cut through the guy's armor: Plasma Man howled and aimed his tubes at the ground to shoot two continuous jet streams of plasma and use it as a hover engine: the ground melted and gave way to a very deep shaft: he quickly shut down the jet streams and dropped into the shaft.

"Fuck! They ran! Sigma! Give chase!"

"Roger, Commander Omega!"

"Hikari – san! The ambulance! Quick!" He called ut.

"Ah! A-ambulance, yes!"

"Rock Man! Hang in there! Damn it!"

18:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Please realize that this conference has been arranged in a express manner and we apologize for the lack of sufficient seats or materiel: we're just starting to figure out what's happened."

Commissioner Kifune of the Net Police was standing in the press room of the Net Police HQ in the stage and in front of the podium while facing the ten or eleven TV, radio and newspapers reporters.

"The shooting reported barely an hour ago somewhere in Akihara City was a disguised military chopper attacking a neighborhood in a terror tactic organized by an organization by the name of "Atomic Network"… Two mercenaries had been hired to do the attack and they have been apprehended already thanks to a "Net Savior" Net Navi who was in the scene and took control of the chopper… Do you follow?"

"Is this a response to the imprisonment of the "Deadly Pandora" members about two months ago?" One reporter asked.

"We can't know yet."

"It's said that one of their Navis is in unknown whereabouts."

"That's true and we've been searching ever since then: but their ability to materialize and disguise is making it difficult."

"What happened in Internet City?"

"A Net Navi named Plasma Man staged for a storm to inflict mass damage along with packs of "Juuka Viruses" which were reported last year to have been stolen of the Virus Laboratory and infected with a program to alter their strength and abilities… He attacked another "Net Savior" Navi and used the real-world attack to try to decimate their Operator plus lowering the guard: but other "Net Saviors" got to the scene and attacked back forcing them to escape… A quick chase led to the "Reverse Cyber World" but the trail turned cold there given the massive scale of the place and its general lack of any objects…" He exposed with a sigh of defeat.

"How did the chopper disguise?"

"They painted it like it was a DNN chopper and hid the machinegun inside of a camera: they dispatched a flight plan and it put emphasis on "low altitude fly-by to take HD shots of the houses"…"

"WHAT?" All reporters exclaimed.

"Yes. It's a mockery to the media."

"By all the…!"

"Ah! One warning. The ID of the "Net Saviors" involved on this will not be disclosed. It's for their safety. We'll provide CCTV imagery of the area as well but all numbers and addressed will be airbrushed to ensure the privacy of the inhabitants of the zone… Someone might tell you, yes, but we'll place police agents there who have to run some forensics investigations and some City Council – dispatched carpenters have to repair the damage done… We will not tolerate any sort of pressure on them and their families, friends and neighbors just to pop out as a headline… They have the right to their privacy!" Kifune warned by leaning forward as if to put emphasis on the topic.

"R-roger."

"More information will be disclosed in the next 24 hours."

He walked out and the reporters began to leave too: he met with Ijuuin Enzan, Laika and Misaki on the room behind.

"I can't believe it… Who'd want to do such a barbaric thing?" Enzan sighed and was totally depressed.

"The latest news from Omega report that Netto has been stabilized, Enzan – sama, sir." Blues reported.

"Damn it." Laika hissed.

"What savages!" Search Man cursed.

"Totally! And the damned culprit escaped us too!" Misaki hissed next.

"And with it our only solid thread to those guys… The two killers in the chopper won't know anything useful." Prism Man muttered.

19:47 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Omega… Nothing?"

"Sadly, Boss… It's like they had a direct gateway linking there and which can be installed de-installed at a second's notice…"

"I see."

"Prism Man told me those two killers said that the guy who hired them via the phone was named "Hell's Envoy" but they dunno anything else: but this couldn't be Twilight."

"Of course not. Maria won't give up on her "preys" so easily despite that we're keeping an eye on her 24/7 and we've made sure she hasn't gotten any messages either… In short: Maria wants them alive and Twilight will always do as she orders him so… It's another party. Maybe Twilight will think they're getting in Maria's way and will go bust them… To then laugh at us: which I wouldn't really care."

Vadous was standing in a hospital corridor right outside of a room and talking to Omega through a gray and purple PET having a purple Alphabet "V" set on it.

He was wearing a black suit over a white shirt, a black tie, brown pants and brown leather shoes.

He'd also put on blue contacts over his eyes too.

"He hasn't regained consciousness yet?" Omega asked.

"No. It'd seem we got lucky again and the bullets only hit the rib cage and didn't break any ribs either: extracting them wasn't easy but they did it nevertheless… His intravenous nanomachines will take care of healing the wounds too… And don't try to compare it to Vamp."

"Not like I intended to, Boss… I'm serious."

"At least this will prove to them that they should've worried about you firstly and not Rock Man… How much damage do you estimate you and Sigma did to that - moron?" He grumbled.

"Their HP clocked at 3000 and I think we lowered it down to 567 given an HP bug I caused as well…" Omega reported.

"Hum. I see."

"I called Davis and he's begun digging too."

"Good. The more people we set to search the better… If I could bet I'd say those guys' base is overseas… Like "Deadly Pandora"… Did you send someone to check when they could've access the info?"

"I did: Zero went there and found that the latest access time was on Tuesday September the 2nd…"

"Hum. One month after the DNN Studios Great Decisive Battle…"

"I know… The _daikessen_…" Omega sighed.

"Vadous – san?"

"Hikari – hakase…"

"He's asking for you."

"Really?"

"Please come in."

Yuuichirou had come out of the room and Vadous was surprised to learn Netto was asking for him: he pocketed the PET and followed Yuuichirou inside where he found Saito and Haruka sitting in chairs next to each other and to the right of the bed: Haruka was still white and sobbing while Saito was hanging his head down as if he felt guilty: Netto was breathing through the oxygen mask and looked sad.

"Va… Vadous – san… What exactly happened…? No one told me anything but I know… I almost died there…"

"Well. Two mercenaries got hired by that guy and they used that disguised chopper which Blood hijacked to lead it to the airfield… Someone named "Hell's Envoy" hired those… And you were right that it was a close thing."

"The medic said you shouldn't do exercise for a few days…"

"Like running or climbing…? Huh… I get it… I'm sorry… I always get into these kinds of troubles and I drag everyone along… Ain't I pitiful or silly to begin with?" He sighed in defeat.

"No, Netto. Nobody could predict this. I can't understand this pointless hatred towards the defenders of stability…" Yuuichirou told him.

"I don't either. Whoever is behind this isn't Twilight. You can't calculate what'll happen when you shoot such bullets to a person from such a close range to begin with…" Vadous sighed as well.

"I failed to protect you, Netto – kun… As I thought… I'm but a half-good Navi at the best… I always fail you over and over again… I'm a defective stupid Navi…" Saito was muttering as if he'd forgotten the others were around him.

"Saito! Snap out of it!" Yuuichirou snapped.

"Huh! W-what? Did I something bad?" He gasped seemed to snap out of it.

"Don't blame yourself: nobody's to blame. We're not perfect: you said that a while ago. We all make mistakes and we learn from them: don't begin to say "but if I had" because there's no second chance. You can't go and fix what's already happened. No use crying over spilled milk: life is about accepting your mistakes and moving on forward."

"… You're right, Papa…"

"Yuuichirou – san…" Haruka looked up too.

"I think you all need a good evening's rest. I heard the City Council has provided hotel rooms while the carpenters repair the damage… I apologize for Blood's actions but he wanted to try to stop them …"

"Don't mind it, Vadous – san… Maybe tomorrow we'll see things with a different light… Let's go, Haruka… You need to rest too…"

Haruka nodded and stood up: the twins and their parents exchanged looks but all of them still looked depressed: they came out and Vadous stayed to see how Netto fell asleep and Saito did as well.

"There… They're resting. Let's go back, Omega… Blood and Sigma will take turns watching but the jerk can't recover so fast from damage and they know we'll be expecting them…"

"Roger… What do we tell Iris and Trill?"

"… The truth… They'll hear it sooner or later anyway. It's better to be honest with them and tell them… They could drop by tomorrow morning and cheer them up…"

"Alright…"

Vadous came out and softly closed the door: he headed away while he failed to spot a figure lurking close by and glancing towards there with a worried and concerned look.

_Heck. These "Atomic Network" guys sound like they'd murder all of us in a brutal manner as if this was a war…! Priest – sama won't like this: and wait until that new man, "Present", gets a hold of it… I know he's an adult and way older than me, but we don't mind that… His Navi, customized by Priest – sama, isn't bad either… When he hears it he'll get furious too._

"… Huh… Past? What do we do?" A hushed voice asked from a vermillion and gray PET the figure had.

"Nothing. I've heard enough. I know it's rude to butt into others' conversations but the more we get to figure out about these cold-blooded murderers the better… Our future "Organization" is not going to kill any humans: we won't cross that line. Navis might get deleted but that happens anyway…" The guy whispered back.

"Ah… A-alright… Man. I just feel depressed this evening… And I'd never felt in all these months I've been paired with you…"

"Remember not to come to "that place" while I have duties there: it's necessary to maintain my cover. Use the avatar to move around and don't make weird sounds or use your special abilities… We need to collect as much info as we can on these guys… Let's go, _aibou_…"

"Roger, Operator… Heck. I want to grind those jerks to dust by my hands!"

08:02 AM (Bermuda Time)…

"… What? What do you mean by "the research was incomplete"?"

"It's as I have explained, Master… Those guys had specially installed express emergency routes to enter Internet City… They've learnt the summer lesson, Master…"

"And there I thought they were lazy."

"No, Master… And I now think that Omega is a far more of a threat than Rock Man EXE… We picked the wrong fellow to mess with, sir!"

"Fuck and fuck. That happens because I got annoyed with the idiocies those two did two days ago… We almost got exposed because of their damned idiocy! The last time I hire freelancers…! And I wasn't expecting them to get the mercenaries so fast…"

Plasma Man was reporting to someone sitting in metallic black armchair set somewhere and looking out from an LCD screen set on a cylindrical thick and tall body in the midst of a blackened room somewhere: the armchair seemed to be set in a circular platform surrounding the main body of the thing.

A figure was sitting on the armchair but it was hard to tell their presence given the poor lighting: they seemed to be wearing grayish gloves and overalls but their face was largely hidden by a retro hat.

"We underestimated them… Ughck! And these wounds are no joke either: it's pointless to try to rush in without a plan… I barely escaped being captured to begin with! We should set our gateways to respond to some EEG signal instead and make sure the others erase all data on this location and the path to be done too…! Gruackgh! I need repairs now, sir…!"

"Huff. Whatever! Go repair. I'll think of somethin'…! Che! If only those idiots hadn't looked down on me I could've contributed a lot but they simply sent me to do pencil-pushing after my strategy failed!"

The man impatiently tapped the armrests and grumbled something.

"The great I am a GENIUS! Not some pencil-pusher! I'll prove it to you!"


	3. Chapter 3: Legion 64

**Chapter 3: Legion 64**

11:11 AM (Iceland Time), Saturday September the 27th…

"… _Que le grand cric me croque_! It's unbelievable!"

"I know, _Monsieur_ Dr. Spimer, but…"

"What do we know, _Monsieur_ Vadous?"

A man stood up from sitting in a red leather armchair placed behind a desk somewhere and as he talked with someone through a cell phone.

The man looked on his late twenties or early thirties: he could be over a meter and eighty tall too.

His hair was combed in a neat manner and it was colored in an orange-like coloring while his eyes' irises were blue.

He had reading glasses on.

The man currently wore a white lab coat over a shirt, brown pants and shoes.

"Not much…" Vadous replied.

"Their name!"

"Atomic Network: and they're not Twilight."

"Ah! The witch still hasn't given up and because of that Twilight is obliged to keep them alive… Hum!"

The room he was in contained polished wood desk which had a closed laptop on top of it as well as an interphone system: the desk also contained several drawers and there were several papers piled in the top left-hand corner: a pot with several pencils and pens was placed nearby

There were two leather armchairs most likely reserved for visits in front of the desk.

The room itself looked like an office: it had a set of five bookcases which occupied the whole length of the north wall.

The left wall was largely bare except for a custom-made light support design and an air duct cover.

The right wall had another identical light and a canvas of the Eiffel Tower.

The south wall just had the entry/exit mahogany door.

"So! Anything else? I'll send Colonel Morgan and his 3 agents to investigate the underground or some large facility."

"They seem to have an agent named Hell's Envoy…"

"Hmpf. It must be an irony because nuclear fission forms a lot of heat and such heat is associated with Hell…"

"I guess that. But I don't have any suspects. It could be someone totally unrelated who thinks they're a genius."

"Hmpf. And they think it's smart to try to murder children? They must part of some former mafia or guerilla… Colonel Morgan may be able to deduce something… I'm going to call for the deployment of the agents right now to search the underground… If we could pick some informant and place pressure on them then they'd talk."

"Good idea. The sooner we confirm if "Hell's Envoy" exists or it's another alias for the rascal behind this then the better…" Vadous seemed to agree with the idea.

"_Oui_. Obviously enough! By the way: has he made a good recovery?"

"Yes. But he needs rest and everyone's in a highly depressed state to begin with… Let's hope they recover by tomorrow… I've also placed sensors there and there which I've already calibrated to detect Plasma Man's transit in live and report to me so we can make an estimate of where the guy plans on going to… Unless they have some other Navis which can do the field work…"

"_Merde alons_. This is turning crazy: I now prefer Twilight's attempts to smear our names to this."

"No wonder… Good luck, _Monsieur_ Dr. Spimer… We'll need it!"

20:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo~…"

"Oho!"

"Wanna come with me to the disco, cutie~? They told me you're fashionable, cutie~…"

"Delighted, Missy!"

"Then follow me~…"

A girl was standing in an alley somewhere and calling out to a random guy on his 20s.

The girl was on her late teens or early 20s.

She could be over a meter and eighty tall and had short black hair.

She wore a black long-sleeved t-shirt along with black jeans, fingerless black gloves and black sneakers.

She also sported a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

She also wore a utility belt with two knife cases and two gun pouches.

"Roger!"

The guy followed her into a storage room close by but then she suddenly drew one of the guns: a Beretta 92F-FS which had a laser aim and silencer equipped into its frame.

"Don't move, cutie~… Ya fell for the oldest trick in the book!"

"Well done, Jasmine."

"Heh! Ya know Jasmine, George. Leave it to her to come up with a plan."

"Sure, Justin."

Two guys around the same age and height as Jasmine joined her: the left one had green-tinted hair and the right one blond hair.

"W-what's this about?"

"Have you seen this van?"

Jasmine produced a photo of the van the drivers of which had shot Nelaus and show it to the guy.

"Oh yeah… I saw it two days ago coming into a warehouse 400 meters SSE from here… I haven't seen it come out again… I'd heard that they supplied good stuff… Genuine LSD…" He nervously described.

"Alright. Go back to your maker!"

"Uwa~h!"

The guy ran out like he was gonna be slaughtered then and there: the three of them grinned and cocked their guns before exiting through a side-door and heading in the direction the guy had let out: they soon reached a non-descript garage shutter and Justin examined the opening and locking mechanism: he grinned and took out a screwdriver to open it up and provoked a short-circuit to switch it to open mode: the shutter opened and the three of them gasped.

"What's this stench? Isn't that petrol?" Justin growled.

"More like BURNT petrol!" George complained.

"And leather and plastic too!" Jasmine clogged her nose.

They came in and found the said van to be burnt up and most of its plastic and leather melted: they also found two charred corpses the clothes and skin of which had burnt away to leave only some muscle and even the bones had been charred: the corpses were still on the seats and it seemed that something very strong kicked open the rear doors afterwards but it had firstly burnt across the van.

"Heck. That Plasma Man guy materialized and burn them to a crisp as punishment for their failure… They'd surely barely reported what had happened that the guy silently materialized inside of the van and attacked from behind before shooting again: and they left it here for us to find it and realize who we're dealing with." Jasmine cursed.

"Gross!" Justin grumbled.

"Totally." George groaned.

"By all the…" Someone cursed over a radio Jasmine carried.

"We know, Colonel Morgan, sir. This is gross, sir."

"Obviously! We can't care-freely go tackle them or we'll end up dead: that's the message." Colonel Morgan grumbled.

"Yo~… Colonel – chan!" A woman called out.

"Huh! Captain Mary Troniat… You surprised me!" Colonel Morgan gasped in surprise.

"Well. Not like I got into your office, Colonel – chan… You were here, in the corridor, talking with my cute disciple~ Jasmine…"

"Disciple? I hope it wasn't something pervert!"

"Oh no! I quit _dominatrix_ back in college, Colonel – chan."

"I don't mind any titles, Captain, but that suffix… Doesn't fit!"

"Oi, Jasmine… You're not intending to imitate the Captain, right?" George questioned with a hint of suspicion.

"Please. I don't want to begin like Anaya Maria did."

"Ah! You've got a point." Justin sighed in relief.

"But that doesn't stop you two from trying to play with each other…"

"We're not _yaoi_! How many times do we need to over this, Jasmine?"

"A billion trillion, maybe?"

"Jeez." Justin seemed to roll his eyes under the sunglasses.

"Pull back already: there's nothing else to do there."

"Roger."

"Gergo! Bring Jasmine some flowers next time around, will ya~?"

"Oh come on! Captain! It's George, not Gergo! Ma'am!"

21:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Zero… We don't have anything?"

"No, Davis… I've checked the Juuka Viruses but they were just picked and uploaded into the "storm" which in turn had been brewed in the old Virus Factory "Gospel" had built and which Rock Man partially collapsed: isn't that where Shadow Man and he had their first clash?"

"True. And when Fire Man tried to single-handedly destroy it he got attacked by Freeze Man and crippled to the extent Meijin had to transfer his personality and experience to Heat Man but that was because it was the only way to make him stronger…"

Davis and Zero were talking on Internet City as repairs from the damage brought forth by the attack was being repaired: both sighed and sounded gloomy.

"I don't feel like trying to pull a joke either… Fuck! Who'd be that crazy to attack Netto's house with a machinegun? Not even Twilight or Regal would've done that: who the hell is doing this?" Charles sighed.

"That's the point: we're trying to dig up any clues…"

"Hmmm… Maybe we've met the guy or gal? But I'd rather go for the classical "guy big boss" guess… Or maybe not… Huff. Hard to say at this stage: it hasn't even been 6 hours yet."

"Not like we can figure out that much in just a few hours… We know when they came to the Deadly Pandora HQ servers but we've got no way of knowing how they got in… But the coordinates were surely stolen off the Net Police's reports…"

"Huff. Huh? I hear something… Mettools? I guess there's a colony of them brewing in the factory ruins… Let's go take them out before they can spread out and harm others…" Zero suggested after he listened to some sounds close by.

"Fine."

"Fine nife?" Charles tried to make a rhyme.

"Why not…" Davis shrugged.

"Huff. Alright. I take it back."

Zero and Davis dropped into the cavern below and spotted a colony of Mettools arranged in a rows and columns forming an 8 per 8 grid: there was a round podium projecting a hologram of Darth Vader who loomed over them.

"Oh heck. This has gotta be Twilight's black humor: worse than Snake's to begin with." Davis cursed.

"Yeah… That joke at the Act 2 briefing when he sees the fried eggs did offend both Sunny and Otacon… And in Act 1 briefing he said that he was gonna sparkle his own fire… He really was a heavy smoker if he couldn't hold back from smoking inside of the Nomad plane…"

"… I have gathered you, my soldiers! Today a new fool has gotten in the way of the Secret Empire. Death to fools!" The Darth Vader hologram told the Viruses.

"METTO~!"

"Ignore all others: find the trail of those fools! Spread across the Cyber World, Legion 64! Split into 32 groups of 2 units each and leave no stone unturned! The sooner we find them the better: once we figure out who they are we'll pave the road for the Net Saviors to smash them and do us a favor before we rise! Rise! RISE~!"

"METTO~!"

"Go, my Viruses! Spread across the 5 continents and bring me news of those fools' movements! Hide and listen! That's your mission! The "Dark Side" will guide you! Depart!"

"METTO~!"

The Viruses began to warp in groups of 2 while the other two Navis remained hidden behind a chunk of ceiling which had collapsed long ago given the signs of degradation on them: the hologram chuckled and turned around towards their direction.

"Hrugru~h!"

The hologram lifted their arms and the chunk of ceiling began to float and spin around its axis while building up speed.

"Return the ground, weaklings!"

Both Davis and Zero jumped sideways to avoid the chunk of ceiling as it was driven into the ground and it shattered into many pieces some of which hit them because they weren't ready for them: Vader chuckled and simply gripped his belt with both hands.

"Twilight. Quit the damned show: you arranged that in purpose because you knew we'd meet to discuss." Davis grumbled.

"Hah! You should be thankful: I'm going to let you guys tackle them while I enjoy some genuine Cuban _delectados_ courtesy of Mr. Raúl!" Twilight replied with a sneer.

"You picked that from the _Die Another Day_ film." Zero told him.

"Did Major Zero send his complains already?"

"I doubt he can if he's in a vegetative status." Zero shot back.

"Ah! But we don't know when he ended in a coma… But maybe it was after the Big Shell incident… If Big Boss says that Zero couldn't possibly have foreseen the "war economy" his toys would come up with…" The guy shrugged and chuckled.

"Go try to unlock the "Big Boss" Octo Camo and Face Camo." Davis challenged the guy.

"Mwah, hah, hah! And the Vader Octo Camo and Face Camo!" The guy added with some sarcasm.

"Go ahead: hack them into the game." Charles fumed.

"Hmpf! I'd done that even if you hadn't told me… I don't care about the deserter… Rookie sailors lack courage nowadays! They should've tried to look up to Jim Hawkins in the _Treasure Island_ novel by Robert Louis Stevenson!"

"Tell them yourself." Zero grumbled.

"Nah! I'd rather have Sidious tell him he can't elude the call of the Dark Side forever! And haunt his nights! Terror and fear will fill his pitiful soul and he'll be regretting his betrayal!"

"Anaya commanded you to do that or are you trying to sound scary and sinister? Last time I checked she didn't care." Charles shot back with some skepticism.

"Hmpf!

"Hit a spot, huh?"

"Bowman! Israel Hands is going to visit you tonight!"

"You picked that name from _Treasure Island_: Long John Silver should tell you some tales about Captain Flint." Davis drily countered.

"Metto! Me-metto!"

"Huh? Numbers 13 and 14! What news do you bring?"

The hologram turned around as two Mettools who displayed holographic ID tags showed up: they formed two halves of a "Win RAR" icon which fused and it glowed before it got transferred: Twilight apparently checked the data.

"Huh! Hell's Envoy, eh? And their two imbeciles got burnt by Plasma Man in person… Would've done the same myself, anyway… Oho. The 3 Heavenly Kings already checked it out at the pace of _"yay! Check it out_!" set by Bright Man…" He chuckled.

"So? You've bothered to rebuild your precious subordinates or they "live" inside of you still?" Zero questioned.

"You wanna listen to them? Speak!"

The Vader hologram was replaced by a still image of Freeze Man.

"I live inside of Twilight – sama as part of the "Wily Program" and a piece of "Nebula Grey"! Once these "Atomic Networks" fools are disposed of…"

"Hah! Cloud Man tells you we're gonna GRIND you!"

"Hmpf! Swallow Man here will rip you apart with my talons!"

"Hum! A new campaign has begun: Yamato Man has spoken!"

"Heh, heh, heh… You're powerless when faced against the "Great Dark Swirl"… Cosmo Man tells you as much."

"Well?"

The still images of Cloud Man, Swallow Man, Yamato Man and Cosmo Man flashed by before the Vader image showed up again.

"Let's go back already: we know the _status quo_ of things by now." Davis told the others.

"Sure."

"Recreate a Venetian palace." Charles taunted.

Zero warped out followed by Davis and Charles shut down the holographic screen: "Vader" suddenly whipped around and looked towards another spot filled with rubble and poorly lit.

"No – one yet… I seemed to feel another presence which wasn't any of the Net Saviors… One of those imbeciles' agents? Bah! Let them hear all they want: they'll now realize that they picked the wrong guy to mess with in the first place. Go back, my Viruses, and gather more info! You know how to dispatch it from your assigned locations so there's no need to meet here anymore." He commanded after muttering aloud.

"Me…Metto!"

"Me-Me-tto!"

The two Viruses warped out while the Vader hologram chuckled under their breath but loud enough to be picked by the microphone.

"Stick out your hides, "Atomic Network"… I'll bury you and you will be but a pale thing compared to "Neo Gospel" and "Deadly Pandora"!"

_Heh, heh, heh…! Heh, heh, heh…! Mwah, hah, hah…! Hah, hah, ha~h…!_


	4. Chapter 4: Unending power?

**Chapter 4: Unending power?**

09:49 AM (Japan Time), Sunday September the 28th…

"… Huh… So it wasn't a nightmare… Why did I try to escape reality? I must face it. I'm not afraid. I'm no angered either. I'm going to fight them back out of duty and not out of revenge…"

"Fua~h… Netto – kun? You're awake?"

"Yeah, Saito – niisan…"

"… Huh… Nothing."

"What?"

"No, don't mind it… I was about to blame myself again."

"Saito – niisan… None of us is to blame…"

"I know it, but… I can't avoid it."

"Hey! Guys! Listen up! "Where birds fly to is not to the south, north, east or west: the pathways of birds is up and up until the Birds' Kingdom where Bird Lord welcomes them to rest for the winter"… How's that?"

"Birds' Kingdom…? Bird Lord…? Dragon – san… He could patent those for some videogame!"

"Totally."

"Do you feel better?"

"More or less…"

"Has anything surfaced?"

"Legion 64 got promoted! Mwah, hah, hah."

Netto woke up on his hospital bed and muttered aloud before Saito woke up from the chair: he firstly looked down until Sigma quoted another banner and both rolled their eyes along with Blood Shadow.

"Legion 64? What's that? Another "Tzar" army?" Netto tried to guess.

"No. A group of 64 Mettools which have been spread across the world to act as collectors of information…" Blood Shadow corrected.

"By Vadous – san?"

"By Vader. Mwah, hah, hah."

"Twilight showed up?" Netto slightly lifted his eyebrows.

"And he used a Vader hologram." Saito deduced.

"Yeah. The place was the old Virus Factory: he taunted Davis, Charles and Zero but they didn't fall for it. He's annoyed at these jerks getting on "their" way so he wants to figure out who they are for us to take out and the come settle it with us." Blood Shadow related.

"No wonder."

"As long as he doesn't come at us or Nelaus…"

"It'd seem he's not going to care about Nelaus either so…"

"So he can go promote Legion 66 next!"

"That isn't funny. You know Legion 66 was the one which razed the Jedi Temple when Anakin joined the Dark Side and became Vader." Blood Shadow scolded Sigma.

"Sigma. Stop acting like an idiot."

"Yikes! Commander Omega!"

"Oh. Omega. Apart from Twilight… Anything else?"

"Not really… Save that we found the corpses of Nelaus' attackers…"

"So they'd disposed of them?"

Omega showed up on Netto's PET and directed a hostile glare at Sigma to shut him up: Netto and Saito looked slightly interested.

"Plasma Man seemingly appeared inside of the van and burnt them up alive with their own plasma. Dr. Spimer had sent his 3 agents to locate them and they did find that. The forensic police is working to ID them."

"It'll be hard… Unless someone could provide relevant info…"

"Speaking of relevant info, has Raoul contacted you?"

"No. And we did contact him yesterday. It'd seem he, Yuriko and Miyabi are searching in all nooks and crannies."

"We figured out that the one who arranged for the attack went by the alias of "Hell's Envoy" but we dunno if it's really a separate person from the big boss or not or is an alias made up on the spot." Blood Shadow brought up next.

"Hullo! It's me, Thunder Man!"

"… Data is consistent… Hmmm… Raoul The King!" Omega seemingly scanned him from afar and suddenly came up with a title.

"Oh no! Don't get the guy cocky: Raoul The Thunder is enough!"

"There… A fake would've replied "yeah" because they'd think it's a new upgrade to Raoul's title…"

"Fake…? Ah! The "Phantom Navis"… That "Zoan" Punk guy did use one on the summer to lure us into his trap…"

"I've got news. "Hell's Envoy" exists and it'd seem they pullulate around Oregon most of the time… They supposedly have a southern drawl and speak using a weird jargon…"

Thunder Man came into Saito's PET with news and Omega lifted his eyebrows slightly once he heard them.

"Oregon, southern drawl, weird jargon… Hmmm… Those could useful search tags… I could pick Zero and we'd go search some forum out there: there'll surely be a trap but… Meh. The best way to deal with traps is to trigger them and I don't think they'll want to piss me off to the extent of having me go into "Unleashed Mode"…" Omega calmly muttered as if he'd thought of a course of action.

"Raoul heard that the guy bought the chopper back in August the 30th somewhere in Singapore..." Thunder Man added.

"Singapore, August the 30th, military chopper… I should ask Prism Man for the serial number of the chopper to try to figure out more unless they swapped it for another…"

"The Swapping Swamp of Swaps Owned By Duke Of Swaps has opened to the public: try to catch some Matadogas there without being dragged in the guy's "Self-destruct" Move…" A familiar voice rang out with a hint of amusement.

"Huh? Who's there?" Thunder Man wondered.

"Shadow Man: stop being THAT literal."

Shadow Man chuckled and emerged from Thunder Man's shadow (literally) to his surprise.

"Shadow Man Harbinger Of Puns And Rhymes Came Through the Thundering Shadowy Hero's Soul."

"That's… Grah. Too random!" Thunder Man got exasperated.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Ya should borrow a "ninja" sprite from _Tzar: The Burden of the Crown_ and got the sure-kill "Assassination" move… Mwah, hah, hah…" Sigma chuckled.

"Shadow Man. Do you have something useful to contribute?"

"It'd seem those two had a contact number with "Hell's Envoy" and we checked it out but it turned out to be a "Noodle Wok" restaurant in Mississippi…" Shadow Man sighed.

"No wonder."

"Oh No Wonder Of Wondering Soul."

"Go do some _manzai_ rehearsals with Sigma." Omega sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. And ya can hit me when I screw it up!" Sigma laughed next.

"Oh no… No need for that… My prey is Magic Man."

"Why Magic Man?" Saito asked.

"Well. He can use _Magic_, Rock Man…"

"How lame." Saito rolled his eyes.

"And he'll spawn _Magic Cards _too…"

"Oh come on." Omega complained.

"While his cousin Trap Man spawns _Trap Cards_…"

"Mwah, hah, hah. His evil village cousin!"

"And his half-brother Monster Man spawns _Monster Cards_…"

"Please…" Even Netto found it silly.

"It isn't over yet. His brother-in-law Fusion Man will spawn _Fusion Monsters_ along with Fusion Man's own lil bro, Effect Man, and his _Effect Monsters_… Normal Man, Effect Man's repellent nephew, will spawn _Normal Monsters_ and God Man, the sneaky uncle, shall invoke the _God Cards_… Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh!"

"Are you done?" Thunder Man sighed.

"Truly, Thunderbird."

"Thunderbird! I ain't related to the thunderbird! Go invent the Thunderbird PKMN." Thunder Man exasperatedly challenged back while lifting his arms.

"Zero? Let's meet on Block B… We'll go visit "All Gossip And Conspiracy Forum" and try to find some clues regarding "Hell's Envoy"… Meet you there in 5'…" Omega contacted Zero in the meanwhile.

"Sure. I'll be there in 3' myself…"

"The 5-3-3-5 march has begun!" Shadow Man proclaimed.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Brilliant, buddy!"

"Shadow Man! Come back already: we've got work to do." Miyabi fumed as he opened his screen.

"The _shogun_ needs you to quote Takeda Shingen and Sun Tuz, Miyabi…"

10:28 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. Here's the forum server… I'll search: cover me."

"Roger."

"Hmmm… Oh? Banned user: hells-envoy-666…"

"What a stupid username."

"Why was he banned? Ah. I see. "Soon enough you'll see how Atomic Network's neutrinos will kill you off along with our electron-charged plasma and our positron-strengthened agents… Today we rise and we proclaim the death of a hero!"… And the forum admin realized about this guy being an actual terrorist and such seems to have called for the NSA to look into it…"

Omega and Zero reached the server and he began to look up using a holographic screen: he read a message while Thunder Man watched the arch which was the entrance to this tall cylindrical Cyber World with the website's content tree printed on the far wall: Omega had zoomed on the segment labeled "Forum" and then picked "General Discussion": he'd used the search engine to find the post.

"Hum. But this doesn't clear up if they're a separate guy from the big boss or not to begin with… They could be trying to pose as a grunt… And fools us along the way…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Welcome to MY trap!" Someone exclaimed very close by.

"That ain't Plasma Man… A pawn of the jerk?" Zero deduced as he drew his sword.

"Pawn? No! Comrade!"

"Comrade in arms, huh? So the guy isn't your commander, Mr. Whoever You Are?" Omega drily asked.

"Nope! And now I'll bust you! Zeta Cannon!"

"Slow."

"Cheap."

Both quickly leapt into the air to dodge the rounds of the Zeta Cannon which hit the floor and Omega spotted that they seemed to come out of a higher ledge but which had nothing on it: he merely used a pair of jets on his boots and shot forward to then throw his saber forward and make it stab the "air": something frizzled and a silhouette hidden by refraction of light could be seen standing there and trying to pull the weapon out: Omega extended his right hand and it began to glow: the saber got pulled out and the attacked one clutched the wound but then Zero silently landed with his feet atop the attacker's shoulders from behind thus making them lose their balance and crash into the ground, 4 meters lower.

"Ugrhak! That – wasn't – in the – scheme!" They grumbled.

"It sucks. It didn't get approved by Hollywood." Zero sarcastically shot back as he calmly hovered down.

"You can't hide the blasts of a weapon with stealth camouflage: you've got a lot to learn from Grey Fox." Omega drily added.

"Fuck and shit and damnation!"

"State your name and purpose." Omega demanded.

"I'm - INFINITY MAN!"

Infinity Man was a Navi of standard height, that is, about a meter and eighty and as tall as Omega.

He had a helmet with rectangle – shaped black shades which were rather transparent and it revealed that his eyes' irises were purple.

His body was colored in a bronze-like color with random patterns colored vermillion set across it as well: these patterns split off into pieces.

His boots and forearms were colored purple and had some more random patterns colored golden which also split off into random pieces.

The chest emblem was the "infinity" symbol painted vermillion and set against a purplish background.

The emblem was repeated on his ear pads, on top of his palms and on the boots, near the ankles.

"Hmpf. So? What can you do? Boast infinite times?" Zero taunted.

"No! I can do THIS! Program Advance! Giga Cannon!"

"Hmpf."

Infinity Man formed a Giga Cannon on the spot which was already loaded and shot the blast at Omega who merely extended his left hand and opened his palm: a vermillion diamond set there glowed and the Giga Cannon blast was suddenly repelled before it could make contact and hit the ground at Infinity Man's feet: the explosion had him crash against the far wall and he quickly recovered.

"I copied the "Monolith" repulsion field." He merely let out.

"Fuck. That wasn't in the Deadly Pandora data logs!"

"No wonder. I installed this last evening."

"That's not fair!"

"You sound like a spoiled 10 year old kid." Zero taunted.

"ME? SPOILED 10 YEAR OLD KID? HOW DARE YOU~!"

"Come at me." Zero challenged.

"Fuck! Eat this, you punk! Program Advance! Dream Sword!"

Zero merely held his blade horizontally and let it come to then stop it and absorb it into his blade: he hit the floor with it and several blue thunderbolts rained down and hit Infinity Man.

"Please. I've been training against Program Advances for over 3 and half years by now. You surely aren't even 2 or 3 months old and get cocky 'cause your Special Ability is to shoot Program Advances already uploaded into your cache memory without having to go through the Battle Chip "Slot-In" sequence." He listed.

"I thought you'd been created by Vadous half a year ago!"

"What? There are plenty of reports about me in the Net Police and Twilight knows perfectly about my origin so that's an assumption someone made out of nowhere. Vadous hasn't created any other Net Navis apart from Omega, Blood Shadow and Sigma. Check out about the "kyoju" and the "Zero Virus"."

"The "professor"? Who's that?"

"That's why I said check it out…"

"Heck. You wouldn't have inserted that report there to provide misinformation, would you?" He questioned Omega.

"Ah. Maybe Twilight detected someone snuffing there and decided to sabotage you guys subtly by leaving reports like that to make you get cocky and charge in without a battle plan…" Omega deduced.

"Shit. We should've taken the guy out first but no~… Plasma Man kept saying taking the "hero" out would be far more terrific!"

"You should've tried tackling me first. Isn't Plasma Man an adult? Then he's pretty much of a bully. _Bully Go Home_."

"Grrr! Program Advance! Elemental Sword! Area Steal!"

Infinity Man warped and managed to hit Zero with his Program Advance but he didn't mind the four cuts to his body colored yellow, blue, green and red: Infinity Man frowned and then Zero suddenly stabbed his sword into the right shoulder as it glowed with a purplish glow.

"I installed a Muramasa Blade here: my sword can do many things. It's like a Swiss Army knife."

"Fuck and shit and damnation!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! You got it coming, you damned spoiled brats!"

"Twilight. I knew it: his Mettools told him there was something going on and he's accessed sensor data… He must be in the real world." Omega recognized the voice.

"That's Twilight?"

"So! Tesla Magnets is your Boss!"

"W-what? I know who Tesla Magnets is but I haven't met her and we've got no use for her!" He protested.

"Only that _Madame_ would be able to spoil you so much!"

"I guess he looks up to her boss-like behavior…" Zero guessed.

"Hah! She ruled over those 4 men who formed the "Neo WWW" and it lasted from July to October!"

"What "Neo WWW"? There's never been such a thing!" Infinity Man protested back.

"Not of your concern, spoiled brat."

"BRAT! I've got a mental age of 25!" He protested.

"You lowlife rather look like you've got a mental age of 18!"

"Wha~t? Wait 'till Plasma Man comes for you!"

"Hah! The power of my "Darkloids" together with the Dark Side will allow me to win and overcome! Lancelot is about to come!"

"Not Lancelot again… Why not pick Morin or Blackthorn?" Omega sighed and seemed to know what he was talking about.

"Dunno! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Che! It's not over! Not yet! Program Advance! Hell Hockey!" Infinity Man announced.

He formed a large hockey disc and threw it at the ground to let it bounce across the walls and hit them from different angles: both were unaffected by the blows or didn't show it so Infinity Man got a twitch over his right eye and was getting annoyed.

"You're supposed to yell in agony and get pounded!"

"We're veterans." Omega merely replied.

"And we don't get impressed so easily either."

"Damn it!"

"Our turn, Zero. Muramasa Blade!"

"Muramasa Blade!"

"Huh! Dream Aura, Holy Panel!"

He formed a Holy Panel and a Dream Aura in a last desperate attempt to protect himself: Zero's attack got wasted in taking out the Dream Aura despite the Holy Panel but Omega's attack connected with the earlier wound: Infinity Man groaned and stepped back: he looked up and saw "Sidious" standing in front of him and aiming his ugly hands at him.

"So be it, you fool! Die."

He shot "Force lightning" at Infinity Man and he got electrocuted: he roared while Omega and Zero seemed to find the whole setup stupid given their grumbles.

"Had enough, you fool?"

"F-fucking gramps…! Program Advance! Corn Party!"

"I shall resurrect again AND AGAIN! Grah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, ha~h!"

Infinity Man shot the Program Advance at the guy and his body vanished to leave only the robe standing there: it suddenly glowed with a silver glow and exploded: the explosion had the guy hit the wall and he groaned again as he got up to his feet again.

"Shit. This isn't over YET!"

"Why don't give it up and go back home, newbie?" Omega challenged instead.

"We've got better stuff to do."

"Wha~t? I'll make you regret that cocky behavior!"

"You're the one who has a cocky behavior to begin with, rookie."

"Go train in the Big Shell and then we'll talk about strength."

"Program Advance! Giga Count Bomb! Eat this!"

"Cheap."

"And weak."

Zero and Omega easily cut it up on mid-air and the bomb exploded without harming anyone: Infinity Man ran out of patience and ran towards them while having a Mugen Vulcan drawn.

"Eat these~!"

He shot some of the rounds and Zero let them hit him without minding it: he let Infinity Man get closer to suddenly kick his face and then rammed into him using the right shoulder: Infinity Man fell to the ground and suddenly formed a Giga Cannon which he shot at close-quarters: Zero let it hit him and he merely folded his arms.

"Is that all? I've toughened my armor ever since the summer and the face-off with Freeze Man… I added a diamond coat to it too so it can't be shattered or cut so easily… I evolve."

"Not fair! Not fair! I should be stronger!"

"Tell that to Beast Man: he got his arse kicked 4 times before he died for real! Later re-buildings like the one Twilight did during the "Neo Gospel" time, the one which showed up on the winter and the one last summer don't amount. And Rock Man only needed some good Battle Chips to repel him because he always got cocky and lowered the guard: I always expect nothing and simply use a standard technique until I get a hold of the adversary's battling patterns." Omega dully aimed his gun at him and wasn't impressed in the least.

"Hah! Raiden! The Colonel says you're doing SO bad that he wants you to go back and he'll fight himself! So go have fun with your own porn magazines while he tackles the battle and wins it."

"Wha~t?"

"Huff. One of the "Colonel mad calls" in MGS2 during the Arsenal Gear Chapter…" Omega rolled his eyes.

"Porn magazines… I highly doubt this guy knowing what "porn" means to begin with… I don't care about that because, heck, I'm a Virus. Strictly speaking I'm genderless but I speak like a guy."

"Come out, Twilight! Fight me!"

"Hah! I don't need to waste my energies on a newbie. Let's see if you can handle Soldiers 20 to 34!"

"METTO~!"

14 Mettools ran in and suddenly jumped into Infinity Man to hit him with their pickaxes from different spots while others jumped, bounced off the walls, and tackled him: he soon got overwhelmed and both Omega and Zero shrugged.

"Guess the only one who'd easily lose would be Guts Man… Maybe the others too 'cause they're not very good fighters… Speaking of fighters, I'd heard the Science Labs were considering recruiting a new "Cross Fusion" member like they did with Shadow Man in the summer…" Zero brought up before looking at Omega.

"Yeah. At Hikari's suggestion, Sakurai and Roll have undergone some tests already and I think they're going for the last one in the next days as well: it would be good to have some better numbers despite that we already matched 1 VS 1 against all "Darkloids" in the summer…"

"And then Miss Sakurai will rule over that renegade~!" Twilight's echoing voice taunted them.

"If you want for this stupid show to end soon you should try to figure out who "Hell's Envoy" is and if he's the leader or not."

"By Flint's eye-patch! You happen to be right, Omega The Ripper."

"Shaddup. That was some weird program you inserted into me based on Raiden's past self during the Liberia Civil War. And it doesn't surprise me that he behaved like that: if there was gunpowder in their food to begin with then… They surely ended up half-drugged all day long."

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Infinity, they say? No! It's Finite Man!"

"I'll have you swallow that one~!"

"Swallow Man! What do you suggest, my chap?"

"Twilight – sama. Let the Legion prove to them how they're neglecting the proverb "union makes force" and why Viruses are cheap and mass-produced to begin with…" Swallow Man's echoing voice told him.

"Heh, heh, heh. Not bad. I'll praise you yet."

"Thank you very much, Twilight – sama! Glory to IQ – sama!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I'm off through the Off Door Sponsored By Vincent "Red" And Uncle Campestre~!"

The line died down and the Mettools ran out: Omega and Zero ignored them while Infinity Man groaned: he had several grave wounds on his body which were leaking and his balance was far from good.

"Fuck! Twilight! You're asking for it! I'll remember this!"

"Of course: Navis don't forget." Omega shrugged as he taunted.

"Nya~h!"

"He's got the Neko Virus." Zero chuckled.

"I wonder who the heck came up with that thing back in 2004… Some cat fan? Luckily we didn't catch it thanks to our advanced antibodies… And it was eradicated afterwards anyway… Like those "Trill" Viruses in form of cockroaches…" Omega seemingly recalled.

Infinity Man suddenly hit the floor with his fists and a round tilting trap-door was revealed: it opened and closed and both Navis rushed over to it just as it got deleted and vanished.

"Huh. Express lane into the "Reverse Cyber World"… So that's how they move around… I can't say it wasn't clever to hide it like that: let's go back and hope this serves as lesson for those guys…"

"And with Twilight openly boycotting them… They're in for deep trouble."

"Obviously enough… Let's go tell the guys at the hospital…"

23:09 PM (Bermuda Time), Saturday September the 27th…

"… Ugh! My Master… We're in trouble, sir!"

"What the FUCK happened?"

"Hurk! T-Twilight, sir! He's going to sabotage our work and has a thousand tricks ready to use on us…!"

"WHAT?"

"A-and those two can evolve too… And grown new abilities… Gruh!"

"Fucking Hell!"

"Come here, Infinity Man. You need some repairs."

"OK, Plasma Man… Hell! If those weren't enough then picture being attacked by 14 Mettools… "Union makes force"…!"

Infinity Man had appeared in the LCD screen and the armchair man got pissed off as he reported: Plasma Man showed up to his right and Infinity Man walked off towards the left.

"Repair the guy now and copy his battle data! I want to see it all before I send the next guy on the next sortie!" The man commanded.

"Roger, My Master."

"B-M! Come out!"

A Navi hidden by a greenish cloak as tall as Infinity Man appeared once the other two had left and kneeled.

"My Master."

"You're going for a sortie next but you and I need to review the battle data Infinity Man managed to bring over… Things are just getting complicated because there's an unforeseen factor involved…! Damn it. Twilight: stick out your damned hide and be deleted! All glory will be for my organization: you lowlife's organization's show is over!"

"I know, My Master. We shall show them Atomic Network's might!"


	5. Chapter 5: Bamboo shoots in autumn?

**Chapter 5: Bamboo shoots in autumn?**

11:33 AM (Japan Time), Sunday September the 28th…

"… Hikari – kun."

"Yay! Netto!"

"Iris, Trill… You came? Thank you."

"Saito – kun. How do you feel?"

"Better… I think."

"Yay! Saito – oniichan is the best!"

"You got another _otouto_ to take care of, Saito – niisan!"

"Oh come on! Netto – kun!"

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah."

"Jeez."

Iris and Trill had come to visit Netto: Iris looked relieved to see them in a better mood and Trill cheered at Saito so Netto pulled a joke which Saito didn't like but Sigma did: Blood Shadow complained.

"But, really… Infinity Man… And the only "unique" thing he can do is use cache-stored Program Advances to save up time? I agree with Omega and Zero: the guy looked like he'd been designed in a rush out of a random idea which appealed as unique but he had to pick the worst kind of opponents ever. And relying on the "Darkloid" Battle Data wasn't stupid but they didn't realize Omega and the others would improve so much in barely two months' time…" Netto argued.

"And Twilight keeps on with his rip-off mania but I gotta agree that people always miss the point of Viruses' mass amounts and why they're so cheap and weak: the whole idea behind them is "union makes force"…"

"May the Force be with you!" Netto joked.

"Oh come on. That was lame, Netto – kun."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Then let's send some "Soldiers", "Archers", "Pike-men", "Almohads", "Mounted Archer", "Heavy Cavalry", "Janissaries" and some "Jihad Warriors"… Hey! Don't look at me like that: the game names the military units like that and it wasn't intended to be anything to boast about one culture or another… It's just a mid-1990s RPG! Back then there was no talk about that!" Sigma suddenly defended himself.

"No. We don't blame you for bringing up that word, Sigma… Like you said: it was intended to be an overall depiction of Arabian culture… Like how it has the buildings "Grand Mosque" and "Mosque"… But when it comes to the "Barracks" these guys gain 2 extra military units compared to Europeans and Asians… And another advantage is that you turn the masses of "Peasants" into "Jihad Warriors" and recycle them. Their "Magic Workshop" also allows you to create a powerful item…"

"Yeah! Commander Alamantz's strategy is as follows! First he selects "Random Map" mode… He picks "Arabian" and the red color… He also uses a custom player name such as "Kansas"… He picks 3 allies and leaves 4 enemies… Player 2, Lancelot, is "European" by default but all other players are set to be at random… He alters the terrain each time but leaves it at "Ground" to avoid masses of water which would be a hinder later on… No wild animals, no battle fog but start with 3 "Watch Towers" and let the game be "Hard Mode" plus "Fight to Death"… The result? ALL players legally begin with infinite resources! And their AI is increased: given how there's no need to collect resources then they get to work and the tactic is to create armies to launch them at the other players!"

"Yay! Uncle Sigma is a good speaker!" Trill giggled.

"When it comes to things which others like…" Blood Shadow shrugged.

"I hope we don't get into a mess like that of last time around." Iris muttered.

"Don't worry: we fixed the system." Blood Shadow replied.

"Ah! Then that's better: I should've thought that you'd fix it, true."

"Well! The game kicks off so Commander Alamantz turns on the AI Assistant: the "Assistant", "Military Assistant" and "Economic Assistant" at the same time… They begin to build things and he makes sure to build more "Watch Turrets" because the AI doesn't do it. Once the "Magic Tower" is assembled he orders to "Research" the tech named "Witchery" which allows for the building of the "Magic Workshop"… Once he has built the "Magic Workshop" he allocates 1000 units of "Gold" and commissions a sword… After a few minutes it produces the sword… Which, when equipped… Provides a bonus of Plus 250 Attack Points! He picks a Janissary, uses a cheat to make it invincible, and sends it to cause confusion in one enemy city as he finishes building up armies… Another cheat allows him to raise the population limit from 250 units to 1000 units! And thus, with numbers which quadruple or triple the enemy's, he sweeps the ground with them on it! Ensured victory!" Sigma finished his long description with a broad, broad grin.

"Yay! Trill had fun being the Dwarf! Hammer, hammer and pound hammer!" Trill giggled.

"Jeez. That was a bad experience for him…" Saito muttered.

"Gotta agree with that…" Blood Shadow whispered.

"He should be better off playing _Star Kirby_…" Saito added.

"Express news from Oregon Nogero Gerono brought forth by Evil Man He Who Stirs Up Conflict."

Shadow Man made his appearance by popping up from Sigma's large shadow and he turned around: Blood Shadow slapped his forehead in defeat while Iris rolled her eyes and Trill giggled.

"Yay! Uncle Shadow Man came!"

"Heh, heh, heh… So my proud second nephew is there…"

"You mean it's the son of a cousin." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Well. Nobody seemed to be able to describe Hell's Envoy but there's no doubt that the guy exists and that he was up to something there…"

"You don't have anything specific?"

"Sadly enough Specific Girl didn't want to help."

Blood Shadow groaned while the twins rolled their eyes: even Netto seemed to think Shadow Man overdid it with his jokes.

"Get serious!"

"Well. He seemed to be looking for mechanics specializing in military equipment: the guy alone couldn't have modified the chopper like that so he surely tricked some guy into telling him "it's for a Hollywood movie" or some tale… A high sum of money might've helped… Speaking of money: it turns out that the CIA annual budget had had 1% of it stolen and split into many pieces which became almost impossible to track."

"1% of the budget! I guess it must be some hundreds of millions so even 1% would amount to a million or two, I guess… Or more… It's still classified so this is but speculation…!" Blood Shadow gasped.

"It'd seem that the attack was done from the Deadly Pandora servers to leave no trace leading to the real attackers and done 3 weeks ago: it'd seem the helicopter thing was arranged early."

"Hum. I see. Anything else?"

"I found a name… "Nom Anor"… However, it was a mysterious conspirer depicted in the _Star Wars _comic series _Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood_ and of a non-identified species as of yet despite the comic dating back to 1998-99… Plus in a novel titled "Vector Prime" by R. A. Salvatore dating of that time too…" He explained.

"Hum. So they're using _Star Wars_ names to taunt us."

"They'll come up with No Amor next!"

"You're making a pun: "No Amor" means "No Love" in Spanish." Blood Shadow sighed.

"And "No Armor" too!"

"Jeez. Save up your jokes for another day."

"Other references I dug up include "The New Jedi Order" novels which began in 1999 and speak of the "Yuuzhan Vong Invasion"… And I stand correct: it's in these novels that Nom Anor is identified as a Yuuzhan Vong agent sent to sabotage the Imperial Remnant and have them crumble from in-fighting to pave the way for the galactic invasion…"

"Alright. So they must be drawing parallels to the fact that the guy is a shady conspirator who slips in and out and skillfully manipulates any parties to shape his goals." Blood Shadow settled.

"Zero and Omega are on standby since they suspect there's going to be another sortie… They think that something about the whole DNN Studios takeover reeked… Opoulos still insists it was his plan but Vadous seems to think otherwise…"

"You mean… Atomic Network lured them into doing that to accelerate their defeat and pave the way for their "rising" without having to fight Twilight and his Darkloids?" Netto guessed.

"Sounds logical…" Saito shrugged.

"How terrible!" Iris muttered.

"Huh? Ah! Oneechan! There's a light show in the city!"

Trill had climbed into the closed window's ledge and had been looking out when he suddenly called for their attention: Netto didn't climb off the bed so Saito went to check it out instead.

"A "Dimensional Area"! About 3 kilometers NNE of here… Hmmm… If memory serves… Ah! The Densan Botanical Gardens! That's where we defeated Plant Man and got the Fire Soul over 3 and half years ago: do you remember that, Netto – kun?" Saito recalled.

"Whoa. I sure do. Plant Man struck me as odd with how he was switching through addressing manners as he got pissed off… Which was no wonder, yeah, but… That of a drop of water and the Amazon river and all… It was a subtle way of saying we were meaningless compared to his grandness…"

"Sure was… Well. I guess Omega and Zero will check that out ASAP…"

12:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Nice scenery… Well! My "DA" should be enough to lure someone here… Infinity Man failed in a disastrous manner but I won't make the same mistakes as him… Take out the most dangerous opponent firstly or keep them busy and I'll handle the lesser threat…"

"Cloaks and hoods got old-fashioned in the 20th century."

"So we're going to get you up-to-date in fashion."

"They came? Huh? Huh! My robe!"

"Alright. State your name and purpose."

"This guy looks like a vegetarian."

A Navi cloaked in a brownish mud-colored cloak with hood had been standing in the middle of the air of the Densan Botanical Gardens main room and muttering aloud: their voice revealed they were a male but told little else: their robe had been flickering given the wind when Omega's and Zero's voices rang out: something blurry crossed across the air and cut his robe in half making the lower half drop down while another blur made the air blow off the upper portion: both Omega and Zero landed on the ground with their weapons drawn.

"Hmpf! I'm Bamboo Man!"

"So we found bamboo shoots in the autumn, huh?"

Bamboo Man was colored in various tones of green and seemed to be about Omega's and Zero's height as well.

His eyes' irises were red and some mud-colored patterns were drawn on his cheeks and helmet forehead (the helmet was colored olive green) which also included the ear-pads with his drawing on them.

His drawing was but three bamboo lances colored wood green and spread to form the index, middle and ring fingers of a hand.

The main body included purplish bands spreading from the emblem edge.

These bands had oval-shaped dull brown dots scattered at random across their length as well.

He sported a black leather belt which had reddish circuitry patterns drawn across it and Grass Seed Battle Chips attached to it as if they were grenades.

The forearms and boots were colored crimson and contained random greenish formations across their surfaces.

"What was that of bamboo shoots in autumn?"

"It's a saying. Given how bamboo shoots only grow in the spring then finding them outside of that season is very rare not to say impossible to begin with. The point is: you're a very odd occurrence."

"ODD OCCURRENCE? ME?" He got annoyed.

"What happened to the earlier confidence?" Zero taunted.

"Huh! I'll dispatch you firstly, Zero! Eat these!"

He picked two Grass Seeds and threw them at Omega: he calmly sliced them but yellowish powder came out of it and seemingly paralyzed Omega: the guy chuckled.

"Hah! I copied the "Numbing Powder" from _Pocket Monsters_ and applied it to my capsules! The effects last as much as 30 minutes and I used Infinity Man as guinea-pig to test that! Now I can focus on you, Zero, and take you out!"

"Don't worry, Omega. I can handle this novice."

"Sure. I'll just look while my antibodies do the work."

"HEY! What antibodies?" Bamboo Man gasped.

"I've got an antibody system which can analyze hostile programs and generate antibodies to them: this "Numbing Powder" is being studied by my internal body as we speak and I guess than in less than 5 minutes an anti-body will have been created and tested to prevent that program which influences on my processor to take effect twice."

"NO WAY!"

"Hrah! Hah! Hah!"

"Uck! Grah! Kuh!"

"A real combatant won't you give you any breaks. Come at full powerlessness, novice."

"Nya~h!"

"Infinity Man infected you with the Neko Virus V 2008?"

"SHADDUP! Bamboo Sword, Bamboo Gun!"

Bamboo Man formed the Bamboo Sword Battle Chip and clashed blades with Zero before bringing up a green-colored Mega Cannon and shooting out nine short bamboo spears at zero-range and thus they stabbed Zero's body: he suddenly seemed to lose balance and step back.

"W-what's with this sleepiness…? Another rip-off…! But I'm… a Virus! And these… no big deal…!"

"Huh? What?"

Zero simply stabbed his right foot with violence and the pain seemed to wake him up: he dashed forward in a blur and clashed blades with Bamboo Man who gasped: he shot another set of spears but Zero didn't seem to mind them.

"Che! Bamboo Vulcan!"

He formed a green-colored Super Vulcan Battle Chip and began to shoot out more spears which had some purple mud set on their ends: they hit Zero and he kept on ignoring them although Bamboo Man was snickering and seemed confident.

"Now you've gone for the "Poison" status ailment, huh? But you guys aren't the only ones who can rip stuff off."

"What the heck?"

"Recovery Medicine!"

"No way! The healing item which removes all status ailments and restores all HP along the way…!" He gasped.

"Ahem, ahem."

Bamboo Man gasped and saw Omega standing behind him while having his arms folded: he suddenly got into a _judoka_ – like pose and closed his fists while seemingly concentrating: he began to unload a barrage of fists which were too fast and blurry to be distinguished and landed blow after blow in Bamboo Man: he groaned and cursed as he yielded terrain: Zero merely stood on a side and folded his arms to look on as Omega finally delivered a kick to his lower jaw and had Bamboo Man fall into a nearby pond from which he emerged covered in leafs and having a frog atop his forehead.

"Kero!" It croaked.

"GRHTJXBHN!" He uttered something undecipherable.

"So? Did you meet your maker there?" Omega taunted.

"Wha~t? What was that!"

"Vapaad. Ever heard of Mace Windu or you live in a cave?"

"Shit. Vapaad! With the mere fists! Groah! Everything aches but I won't fail in such a ridiculous manner! Eat this! Bamboo Vulcan, Bamboo Cannon: be paralyzed and poisoned and screw rules!"

"Futile."

Omega extended his left hand and activated the diamond to make the repulsion field show up and shoot all projectiles back at Bamboo Man: he got paralyzed and a purplish holographic skull and crossbones formed over him as if reminding him of his status ailment: both Navis stood quiet and did nothing as he soon collapsed into the floor face-down and groaned while trying to stand on his fours.

"You really don't know how a battle is fought, do you?"

"F-fuck you! Whatever that means! I only know it's an affront!"

"No wonder. I guess Hell's Envoy isn't THAT type of jerk."

"Whaddya mean? He ain't no weird guy, yeah, 'cause the guy doesn't look up so much _Star Wars_ and all! That info Shadow Man got was planted by Infinity Man to begin with!" He grumbled.

"Ah. How clever." Zero taunted.

"F-fuck… My HP has gone down to 5! G-gotta pull back…! Damn it: follow – up to Plasma Man's botched "grand terror" now Infinity Man and I suck at battling! But when I find a different guy then…! I'll defeat them! My word! This was but the _prologue_!"

"To you lowlifes' slow and painful demise!"

"Vader" suddenly formed there and gripped Bamboo Man's neck to lift him up and then formed his crimson light-saber which he used to plunge it through his body below the chest: Bamboo Man howled and quickly warped to another spot before he hit the ground and opened the trap-door which got deleted afterwards: "Vader" made a creepy chuckle and then turned to look at the other two.

"This time around I'll let my proxies shine as well… This will teach those idiots not to screw with US! Right, my subordinates?"

"Truly!" The five voices exclaimed in unison.

"_Vader Go Home_." Omega grumbled.

"_Kyoudai_! Listen! This isn't over! Not yet! And I'll soon figure out who "Hell's Envoy" is and drop by to pay the guy a visit and have them confess before they're executed for their failure! A slow and painful demise awaits them! Heh, heh, heh!"

"Sure, sure. Go ahead and laugh, Twilight."

"Let's go! Legion 64 is about to report! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Gone… Whatever… I'm sure that the others will be able to tackle these guys without much trouble if they got cocky and all… Heh."

_Hmpf… You dared to mess with us. You're now gonna regret this DEARLY!_


	6. Chapter 6: The Grim Reaper attacks!

**Chapter 6: The Grim Reaper Attacks!**

20:40 PM (Japan Time), Sunday September the 28th…

"… Alright, Charles… So we're gonna try to seize a clue on "Hell's Envoy" because you believe them to be here, in Japan?"

"Yeah, Daniel Komero… We can offer some reward: the only thing we want is to know if they have some special physical trait or at least their age group… Someone has to have met the guy, I believe…"

"But let's not be too quick to trust these parts… Yuriko is also searching there and there with Miyabi but the more we work on this at the same time the better…"

Charles (along with Davis, on his PET) was walking down a street and talking with a guy.

This guy, Daniel Komero, was on his early 30s and had a body-builder type of body frame: his height could be a bit shorter than a meter and eighty.

He had messy brown hair and some traces of a rather poorly shaven beard and moustache: his eyes' irises were brown too.

As clothing he sported a brown open vest over a white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

"Pst… Dudes…"

The group of three glanced at a guy glancing against a wall and having a cap on which hid most of their face.

"Ya want info on "Hell's Envoy", eh? There's someone who's got it and is willin' to give it away in exchange for some cash…"

"… Lead us to them." Charles decided.

"Alright, dudes… This way…"

They followed the guy for about 5 minutes until they reached a pub named "Old City": the guy opened the door.

"In 'ere…"

"Hum. Daniel. Get ready to fight your way out if needed…"

"Roger…"

"I'm ready to materialize too…"

Charles and Daniel stepped in the pub's main room.

The atmosphere was charged with the chatter of various people playing Trumps and drinking.

They walked towards the farthest north-west corner and sat around a round table.

There was another man there who looked like the owner.

"Boss. I brought 'em as ya said… The guys who ask for "Hell's Envoy" and wanna pay…"

"Good, Bill. Cha wait there. Show me the goods…"

Charles silently took out five bank notes and handed them to the guy who examined them to make sure they were genuine.

"OK. Here's the info… The guy's spotted in Oregon, speaks weird jargon, 40s, meter eighty four and that's all."

"That's all? And we wasted 5000 Z on this crap which you heard on the TV 'cause the Net Police asked for info?" Charles was incredulous.

"There: go back. I've got no time for small-timers."

The guy began to walk away while carrying the bank notes but Charles suddenly gripped his right shoulder from behind and looked totally and absolutely pissed off.

"Who's the small-timer?"

"Cha guys!"

PTAF!

Charles violently turned him around and delivered an uppercut using the armor over his right arm.

"Ouwah!"

CRASH!

He lost balance and hit the edge of a table thus pulling the table-cloth with him and dragging the two Whisky bottles to the ground along with the vases, the Trump cards, the coins, the bank notes and the ashtray: the six guys playing there stood up.

"They got Boss!"

"Smash 'em!"

"Daniel!"

"Ou! Know this: I was on the Toronto boxing championship three years ago and made it to the middle-weight class finals!" Daniel announced while brandishing his fists.

"Go~!"

Two of them rushed at Daniel but he crouched and delivered two precise fists to their stomachs to stun them and then added a pair of uppercuts which brought them to the ground: Charles picked a chair and used it to ram another guy while Davis materialized and picked another chair to make it hit an attacker from behind: Daniel jumped over the KO guys and flung the table-cloth at the remaining two to blind them and confuse them as it landed atop them: Davis and Charles took them out with precise hits using the chairs.

"This reminds me of the crazy bar fight in the James Bond movie _License to Kill_… Talk about irony."

"Do not underestimate the power of the MI6. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Twilight. Your Legion 64 told you about this already?"

"I had 37 and 38 tag you."

"Vader" formed there and signaled them with the right hand's finger while pulling a corrupted motto on them: none of them were surprised.

"So! _Hauptmann_. Did you bring order to the chaos?"

"Sure. Now go harvest cabbages."

"So! Snatcher. Did your look-alike challenge you atop Mt. Battle?"

"No. But you can take Plasma Man there and smash the guy up to your heart's content." Charles challenged back.

"Hah, hah, hah… Talk about powerless mice: they need Twilight – sama to teach them how to do things!" Cosmo Man taunted.

"Obviously… Heh, heh, heh…" Freeze Man chuckled.

"Hmpf! You're slower than a steam locomotive." Swallow Man mocked.

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Try to overcome Mach 1!" Cloud Man chuckled.

"They shall be defeated by the _daishogun_ Twilight – sama is!"

"The "Great General", yeah…" Daniel dully muttered.

"Let's go back and leave this guy to scare the skin outta them: they're old-fashioned to begin with or else why would they pick the name "Old City", anyway?" Charles grumbled.

"Dunno. Talk about lack of inspiration."

"Last time I come here." Daniel fumed.

"The beer is too cheap."

"Vader" had walked over to the counter, jumped over it, and opened the freezer to check out what they had there.

"Budweiser, huh? Crafty Germans! What else? Ah! Frozen pizza which only needs 5 minutes in the oven to get ready… Crafty Italians! Ah! Some champagne too! Crafty French! And some "Fish 'n Chip" too… Crafty King Landers! Send greetings to Mr. Ryuuto and his pal!"

However, the group had already departed so "Vader" shrugged.

"Whatever… Things are about to get hot and very hot… Heh, heh, heh!"

17:07 PM (Japan Time), Monday September the 29th…

"… At least I got discarded yesterday evening and our house was fixed so I attended school like nothing had happened."

"Yeah. If they were aiming to scare us for life then we won't: heck, compared to the destruction the Science Labs suffered on the day "Nebula" began their campaign…"

"So we're now gonna visit Skeleton Man!"

"Skull Man, Sigma, Skull Man… Hikari – kun thought Miyuki – san could provide some insight…"

Netto and Saito (sporting their middle school uniforms) were walking down a street with a red Opel car following them: Sigma began to joke while Blood Shadow corrected him: someone looked on from close by.

_Miyuki – san, they say? Oh boy. I visited her shortly after moving to check out if the rumors were true and she had that gaze which seemed to lock into my soul and she then said "erase the pain. Live." … I ran outta there because I was totally spooked! Let's go report to Priest – sama._

"Here it is."

"Let's go inside."

Both came inside and found almost all lights to be out and Miyuki have lightened two blue candles next to the glass ball: her gaze was as inexpressive as always.

"Good afternoon, Miyuki – san!"

"… I have been waiting. Sit down. And be quiet."

Both gulped and quickly did as told: Miyuki calmly placed her hands over the NW and NE corners of the ball while she seemingly stared into it: an uncomfortable silence built up.

"Chut." Skull Man whispered.

"Ah. I see." Miyuki broke the silence.

She slowly looked up at them and seemed to survey them: both began to sweat out of nervousness and she lowered her gaze: it seemed to get hostile and suspicious.

"… I see it… A man… Stirred by selfishness and vain ambition… "Shadow" merges with him… Yet he is a lesser evil compared to the greater evil which lurks in the _twilight_… Yes… He shall wage war… Out of vain ambition and arrogance… He thinks he is invincible yet… There is nothing which cannot be vanquished… Save for evil and ambition…"

"Yikes." Even Sigma was spooked.

"Uh-oh…" Skull Man seemed to foresee some form of trouble.

"… What is this scorching hot brightness…? The heat of stars used to put an end to all life… It is coming closer… Closer… It has descended!"

"W-what?"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Well then! I see a brutal fire, charred corpses and… a funeral march! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

The store's door suddenly got electronically locked and the blinders lowered as well: both twins stood up in a violent manner.

"That voice! Damn it!"

"Plasma Man! The jerk didn't have enough!"

"Bone… Stalker!" Skull Man was seemingly trying to fight the guy.

"Did they never summon you to court out of stalking minors?" He came up with some sarcasm on the spot.

"Plug In! Sigma, Transmission!"

"Plug In! Blood Shadow, Transmission!"

Both Sigma and Blood Shadow entered the Cyber World through the device on the ball's pedestal and spotted Plasma Man using his plasma jets to fly around and easily dodge Skull Man's attacks.

"Che! Persistent meddling guy!"

"Oho. Sigma Ma Ma Man came."

"WHAT WAS THAT? COME AT FULL POWER! I WON'T LOSE!"

"Sigma! Cool it down: this guy is aiming to provoke you!"

"Plasma Ring!"

The ring of flames formed around them but they were far from impressed: Skull Man tried to run towards him from behind.

"Bone…!"

"Too late, old-timer!"

He suddenly turned around and delivered two punches to Skull Man's torso as they glowed with a bright orange glow: Skull Man collapsed and got retrieved.

"You're like caged mice."

"I wonder about that." Blood Shadow calmly shot back.

"Heh, heh, heh… Hop!"

Sigma jumped into the air and used some jets on his boots to maneuver as he held his sword and aimed skywards: the flames began to form an spiral around the sword and then shot upwards drawing a parabola before falling towards Plasma Man: Blood Shadow suddenly drew a curved indented red blood blade with teeth-like formations on the edge of the blade and Plasma Man formed a Flame Sword glowing with the "plasma" glow to block him: Sigma's attack did hit him and set him on flames: Blood Shadow made his blade hum and he quickly began to strike at different angles and speeds to form wounds on his body: Plasma Man howled and tried to break out.

"Zan-Datsu!"

"D-damned MICE!"

"Do not underestimate the power of _kyoudai_'s mind!"

"Heck."

"The punk joined the party!"

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Vader" formed there and pointed an accusing finger at Plasma Man (the right index finger) while gripping the belt with the left hand: Plasma Man dropped into the ground and lifted his cannons.

"Plasma Round! Double Round!"

He shot the two rounds of plasma and they hit Blood Shadow forming some wounds which he didn't mind: in his excitement he didn't spot Sigma building up energy on the blade and then striking him from behind to get electrocuted: Plasma Man howled again while "Vader" formed a sarcastic chuckle and the holograms of the 5 Navis serving also contributed to forming an hexagon arrangement.

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…" They chuckled.

"Damn it! Be gone, you damned INTERLOPERS!"

He formed two Vulcan Battle Chips colored black and having yellow patterns over their barrels: he turned them on and began to shoot out plasma rounds but "Vader" merely held out the right hand to deviate them and have them bounce around: the holograms snickered at Plasma Man to further taunt him.

"Hah! Laser Man would rather say you're WEAK."

"Laser Man isn't involved! I'm an improvement over that guy!"

"Then admit that Tesla Magnets built you." "Vader" taunted next.

"That spoiled CEO kid isn't involved either! Damn you, Twilight!"

"Hum! I see, I see! Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Because of me… You now feel… RABIDLY! OVERWHELMINGLY! VIOLENTLY DISGUSTED!"

"_Mouretsu ni_!" Swallow Man grinned.

"_Kyouretsu ni_!" Cloud Man recited.

"_Gekiretsu ni_!" Yamato Man continued.

"_Kibun ga…!_" Cosmo Man purposely trailed off.

"_Warui!_" Freeze Man finished reciting.

"Why don't you go bathe in Brasilia and flirt with a girl there?" Blood Shadow sarcastically told "Vader".

"We can handle this: you prepare a good script." Sigma added.

"Hmpf! Why not… But no! This series needs something fresh and I'm proving it! Right, you guys watching the TV?"

"Stop imitating Psycho Mantis." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Mugra~h! You lowlifes go later! That guy makes me feel disgusted and I'll personally bring upon their demise~!"

"Cosmo Gate!"

"Ice Stage!"

"Elec Storm!"

"Swallow Cutter!"

"Thousand Spear!"

"Vader" lifted his arms and formed a "gateway" connecting to "outer space" from which some brown planetoids began to fall: he then lowered his arms and the ground froze making Plasma Man slide across it: a gray could formed and shot electricity at the ice to amplify it before a white figure shaped like a swallow flew and made contact: "Vader" drew the light-saber and began to attack Plasma Man with a quick barrage of attacks as the guy managed to jump into the air and end up straight by using his jets.

"Grugra~w! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

"Hah! How frail, really. They were built in a rush and whoever built them didn't bother to come up with good armor or train them to be patient and fight until the end!" Twilight mocked.

"Not like you or those guys did that." Blood Shadow signaled.

"Hmpf! But they weren't crybabies who fled at a moment's notice either: it's obvious that "Neo Gospel" is still superior to these "Atomic Network" fools! And now we'll be going! Farewell!"

"Vader" vanished and the store unlocked: Miyuki stood up while carrying a gray PET.

"I'll have to go to the Science Labs… Be careful."

"A-alright." Netto gulped.

"We'll try to…" Saito muttered.

They came out and sighed in relief as Miyuki locked the store and walked away: they then heard someone humming a tune.

"Beef! And Tuna!"

"Commander Beef?"

"Yo! Netto – kun and Saito – kun. You guys alright?"

"More or less."

"That Plasma Man jerk tried to burn us along with the store."

"Ah! The bandits." Shark Man grumbled.

"So! Jaws! Who are ya gonna bite tonight?"

"Jeez. Leave Shark Man in peace, Sigma."

"Commander Beef? What's up?"

"Oh! Saloma – san. Well! I know how to find out the true colors of "Hell's Envoy"… And where to get that info!"

"Somehow I feel skeptical."

Saloma happened to walk in and she looked surprised as Commander Beef grinned and Wood Man looked skeptical: Shark Man sighed.

"Join the club."

"I get the irony."

"There!"

Commander Beef signaled a nearby cantina and everyone looked there with skeptical looks.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah… Maybe ya need to switch the shades, my chum?" Sigma laughed.

"I rather think you're trying to play cool, Commander Beef." Blood Shadow sighed in defeat.

"Just you watch! Beef! And Tuna! Tuna! And Beef!"

He walked forward in his military-like striding manner and pulled open the door of the cantina.

"Get ready, you damned villains! Commander Beef is going to dig out the name and location of the criminal from you lot!"

He closed the sliding door and immediately enough a chorus of angry voices rang out followed by sounds of a quarrel: dishes hitting the floor, glasses being shattered, loud THUD sounds and so on.

"Uh – oh. He got in a pinch." Netto looked surprised.

"I knew that his smile was a bad sign." Saito grimly muttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Angry Mob V.S. Command Beef! I bet a hundred credits on the Angry Mob!" Sigma laughed.

"Jeez. Quit it already." Blood Shadow grumbled.

The paper sliding door opened again at a slow rate and Commander Beef came out, having his helmet broken there and there and missing part of his shades: he was full of bruises.

"Crap… It turned out that it was the Extremist Vegetarian's meeting point… The mere mention of "Beef" and "Tuna" enraged them…" He walked forward slowly and erratically.

"And you accused them of being villains too!" Saloma protested.

"Huh… Gotta get a new suit… I'd like to be like Super Man and have a spare one ready at all times… Bye-bye… And don't forget to eat your _calcium_, you boys!"

"I knew it! It was so obvious, really! He was Masa – san all along and he pulled some stunt back when the N1 Grand Prix to try to make us believe he was a different person!"

"And that "stunt" was me: I did swear back then that it was the last time I did that." Saloma admitted.

"Mwah, hah, hah … Gotta admit it: those two were cheaters but the idea of robots posing as Operators wasn't that bad… I wonder why Midorikawa said that announcement: that, given how the cables had been cut, they had to be retrieved… How would they travel back without a wire? The PET One didn't have Wi-Fi capabilities but it could use an earlier version of the VoIP system…" Sigma muttered aloud.

"Maybe she should've said "now they can't accept Battle Chips and can't be retrieved"… They'd eventually boasted about it: that they were Independent Model Net Navis…" Blood Shadow shrugged.

"Good point." Netto realized.

"I hadn't thought of it but then again I was focused on battling: that "warp" think was a VPN tunnel-like system to transfer data to another location using the landlines…" Saito recalled.

"Let's go home already and get on with the homework."

"Yeah. Let's pretend nothing happened."

"Mwah, hah, hah! It's time to hunt down treasures!"

"Jeez. You mean the Sinnoh "Underground" in _Platinum_…" Blood Shadow corrected with slight annoyance.

"Platinum a Mu-ni-ta-l-p!" He made a silly rhyme on the spot.

"Oh come on! Sigma. Quit your silly rhymes already, will you?"

"He won't learn when to stay quiet, Saito – niisan… Man! What a day!"

18:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… What do you make out of it, General Hawk?"

"Hum! Something about it feels familiar."

"Maybe it's a model you're familiar with?"

"It could be yet…"

Commissioner Kifune of the Net Police was talking with another man inside of a hanger where the captured chopper was at: the painting had been removed to reveal its metallic brown color beneath it.

The "camera" had been disassembled to reveal the machinegun: the chopper also had a cargo area for troops and the serial number painted on the left flank of its tail: the machinegun's front had melted given Blood Shadow's attack at it and such it was useless.

"You know someone who has a fancy for these?"

"I think it's something along those lines…"

General Hawk, the other man, could be on his late 50s and his hair was starting to go white although it still could be seen that his natural color was black: their height could be close to a meter and ninety tall.

His eyes' irises were brownish and he was clean shaven: his nose seemed to have a hawk-like profile to it even.

He wore a grayish military uniform including pants and boots plus a small medal which had a black dot on the center of its round body.

"Hmmm… Oh? The tail number… You can see another beneath it: the number wasn't painted over: it's but a cheap extra layer the glue of which has degraded… Excuse me! Oh!"

General Hawk pulled the label out and gasped when seeing the original serial number: he cursed something under his breath.

"So that's how it was! By Arkansas!"

"Do excuse me?" Kifune politely asked.

"This chopper! It was OURS!"

"Ah! And how did it end up here?"

"This one was one hell of a sour grape to begin with. We bought it on mid-April but it kept on failing every month and no repairs could seem to pinpoint the reason… First it was the tail rotor… Spinning at three quarters of its speed! Followed by the machinegun, which had paint bullets, on it, getting stuck before completing even 10 revolutions! Followed by the spotlights refusing to work or turning on alone… One of the main rotors spun slower and it had a hard time lifting when the troops were onboard and it swung violently thus making it hard to practice virtual sniping from the cargo hold… We said ENOUGH to this JUNK!" He exasperatedly described.

"Hum! And what happened afterwards?"

"After the DNN thing we sold it to a Singapore – based company to dispose of it and we were glad to be able to see "good riddance" at last to this piece of junk… Yet it'd seem "Atomic Network" was waiting for that all along: maybe the real reason it didn't work it was because they infiltrated a saboteur who tuned it to do crazy things and it could have had a program on its flight computer as well…"

"I see. But why should they bother so much?"

"They must've wanted to blame us for "making it easy for a foreign organization to buy Ameroupe military material" and "promote home terrorism" or some smear campaign… Trying to make us look like fools for selling it on a hastily manner…" General Hawk grumbled.

"Ah! So that's how it was."

"By the way! About that "solo killer" that has claimed to have killed 375 Net Navis ever since 3 months ago… I think they're a member of "Atomic Network" and they're trying to create a terror campaign… We can save locating the mechanic who did this for another day. We should put a halt to this pointless killing first."

"Good point. Then let us go."

23:03 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… _Shinigami – sama_ has come to reap you lowlife's soul and send it to HELL!"

"I'd rather object, pale imitator."

"Huh? Shadow Man! So you lowlife finally showed up…"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Demon Scythe!"

"Demon Scythe? Why not "Black" Scythe while you're at it?"

"Hah! It was too simplistic: this name inspires further fear!"

Shadow Man was facing a Net Navi in a spot of Internet City which was poorly lit (the "skies" had been dimmed to make it look like it was night-time) and looking calm.

Demon Scythe was a Navi about Shadow Man's height and whose design was reminiscent of the Grim Reaper given the blackish robe with hood which surrounded his body.

His forearms and boots, which were visible, were colored in an orange color with vermillion and golden patterns across their length.

Their hood hid most of their face but two orange-irises menacing eyes could be seen along with a nose and a smug grin.

He carried a large scythe with a wooden stick and which seemed to be smeared in blood.

"Hmpf… You rather look like a poor imitation of a Nazgûl."

"Hah! Whatever. I'll reap your own damned soul too! And you'll become number 376 of my list!"

"Then come, _shinigami_."

"Go! Demons!"

"Demons, you say?"

Some small enemies which were barely one meter tall and having a reddish body plus small wings and a tail formed in front of Demon Scythe: they all wielded a trident on their right hands.

"Hmpf… They look like mere Viruses…"

"Slay them!"

The "Demons" began to attack Shadow Man with the tridents and formed thunderbolts, spears of ice, hail, streaks of lightning, geysers of flame, waves, geysers of water, weeds with thorns and logs with thorns which began to hit him over and over again: Demon Scythe rushed in and swung the scythe to slice him from the NW corner to the SE corner but it turned out to be a "bunshin" and 10 _shuriken_ hit him from behind one after the other and giving him no time at all to try to block them or defend himself from them: he groaned and turned around.

"Shit. I forgot about that! I thought you lowlife didn't fight seriously seeing how you fooled around with that Isaac guy in the summer!"

"Oh? Ah. Then the presence I felt was you…" The real Shadow Man calmly muttered.

"This time I'm gonna slice you up! Hah!"

He hit the ground with the scythe and 16 columns of energy formed from the ground and around Shadow Man in two rows: Demon Scythe seemed to turn transparent to reappear right in front of Shadow Man.

"Hmpf. There's not proper space for your weapon to work."

"That's what you believe! Die!"

His scythe's stick length decreased all of a sudden and he swung it but Shadow Man quickly drew his _katana_ to block it up: they began to struggle with Demon Scythe getting annoyed but Shadow Man kept his cool: Demon Scythe eventually formed knife blades on the front of his boots and tried to kick Shadow Man with them but he jumped into the air and fell down to stab the _katana_ into him from behind but it didn't seem to get through the robe to begin with.

"Ah. _That's_ a Nazgûl imitation: the robe is magically bonded to their invisible bodies and no normal weapon can penetrate that save for some specific blades… Your Master is fond of _The Lord of the Rings_… But since there's no magic here then that means you've got a Dream Aura installed between the robe and your Navi body per se."

"Damn you!"

"So? The only thing you're good at is sneak attacks on Navis like the one you did on Hokkaido yesterday and which was investigated by Blues, who warned me?" Shadow Man taunted.

"How could you know I'd be operating here?"

"Guys like you tend to taunt people by striking twice in the same place after a while when we're looking at other likely locations and have already discarded this one as likely location…" Shadow Man let out.

"Shit. My own ego was my downfall?" Demon Sycthe scowled.

"Correct… Now fight!"

"Che! I'll reap your _satsujn-ken_ soul yet!"

"My "murderous-sword" soul, huh? Well. So be it. But that depends on if you can really overcome me in battle…."

Both began to clash their weapons again and Demon Scythe growled something but Shadow Man didn't yield terrain: Demon Scythe picked a knife and threw it to stab Shadow Man's right hip but he didn't let that stop him: he merely began to thrust forward with varying speed and positions while using the right hand: he used the left to remove the knife and threw it at the guy's right knee yet it got stuck in the robe: Shadow Man calmly continued fighting and then suddenly jumped backwards 3 meters as the guy tried to make an ascending strike with the scythe yet failed: the guy growled something under his breath and retrieved his knife with a grumble.

"Your movements are predictable, _shinigami_."

"Damn you! Shadow Man! Why are we running into so much trouble?"

"Well. Plasma Man's problem is that he got cocky and he should've done his homework in a more detailed manner beforehand: Rock Man isn't the same type I fought over 3 and half years ago during the Japan "Control X" demonstration… He's come a long way and trained and evolved. Then Infinity Man and Bamboo Man let their bad mood get the best of them instead of trying to analyze flaws to Zero's and Omega's battle patterns yet they picked the worst opponent ever… And as for you… You're not designed for prolonged combat and your tactic is to strike and run: maybe you'd fight with an average Navi and quickly win but you were actually yearning to fight me… But you came unprepared." Shadow Man calmly exposed.

"Shit. That's because I thought it'd still take some days to stumble upon you to begin with!"

"Your "Master" was impatient to start everything up and make a "grand" opening yet… I'd rather say he's been neglecting the existence of so many Cyber World defenders… All of we could tackle the original "Darkloids" which "Nebula" interacted with… And we'd still have one or two extra Navis as reserve…"

"Excellent speech, _Ninja _Man! _Shinigami_! Do not underestimate the power of the Miyabi Tribe! I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"What the fuck! Twilight?"

"Vader" showed up again to taunt Demon Scythe by doing some silly dance-like thing and along with an equally silly song which seemed to be some kind of _samba_ imitation to begin with.

"I'm Mirror B.! An "Admin" of "Shadow"! My army of "Runpappa" with their combination "Rain Prayer" plus "Hydro Pump" will extinguish even the Hellish fires of Plasma Man! The guy's but a Fighting / Flame PKMN to begin with! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! And this theme is Mirror B.'s theme from _Pokémon Colosseum_! It's… SUPERB!" He laughed.

"What in the fuck?"

"I guess my subtleness is wasted on you lowlifes… Go broom the chapel!"

"WHAT? ME? BROOM THE CHAPEL? You're DEGRADING me?"

"You moron! If you hadn't jumped out of hyper-space so early then we wouldn't have been detected by the Rebels!"

"Hmpf… _Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back_…"

"Pain Flame!"

"Hmmm?"

Demon Scythe swung the scythe around and formed bluish flames with a white core which latched into "Vader" and began to burn his "armor" out only to reveal a figure beneath it.

"Heh, heh, heh! Eat gas!"

The figure threw a gas vial at Demon Scythe which cracked and surrounded him with a brownish gas: he suddenly began to attack seemingly invisible opponents while roaring.

"Stay dead! I reaped you lowlifes' souls! Stay dead!"

"Heh, heh, heh! Feel the fear! "The Fear" loses this round!"

"Oh come on. I asked for someone in a chat to ID this guy and it turns out this guy is Bat-man's "Scarecrow", a mad researcher who researches "fear" itself and uses gases to provoke hallucinations into persons… He's having Demon Scythe fight back the spirits of those he killed." Shadow Man complained to Miyabi.

"How ironic." Miyabi muttered.

"Isn't it, _daishogun_ Miyabi?"

"Save your _sengoku_ titles for a new RPG." Miyabi tried to shoo him off somehow.

"At the end of the corridor… There's someone! A mirror! Of course: only I could be faster than my shadow! Lower your weapon, cow-boy! It'll be useless against the "Dark Prince"! In effect. Huh? PTAF!"

"I dunno what you're quoting to begin with."

"Hah! _Lucky Luke: the cursed ranch_!"

"Lucky Luke? True. A cowboy faster than his shadow, a lone wanderer far from home… He's meet Jesse James, the Dalton Brothers and other criminals as well… Sigma told me about him." Shadow Man admitted.

"Huff, huff…! Damn it! They were illusions! Damn Scarecrow!"

"Maybe you prefer… The Fear?"

He suddenly morphed into the form of a tall man with a crest of black hair and yellowish eyes about a meter and eighty tall.

He wore simply olive drab camouflage clothes and carried a sheath with bolts on it plus a crossbow on his right hand.

"_Fear_!"

He suddenly seemed to crack his shoulders given how his arms spun loosely and gained a spider-like pose as he attached to a building's wall and began to climb it before turning invisible and starting to shoot out bolts from his crossbow which Demon Scythe managed to repel although some hit him.

"I'm The Fear! That arrow is painted with the poison of the Brazilian Wandering Spider. Eventually unbearable severe pain will end up attacking your whole body. Your body will begin to paralyze, you won't be able to breath and at the end the heart will stop. However! That wouldn't be interesting. Don't die yet. Boss' apprentice… You lowlife haven't seen it: I'll show you the true fear! Alright… Fear! Feel the fear!"

"W-who is gonna feel the… Gruck! That wasn't… a joke!"

He hit the ground to open the trap-door and escape: "The Fear" made some maniacal laughter and leapt into the air before exploding: a rain of bolts fell down and Shadow Man quickly warped to a rooftop as they hit the ground in a wide radius close by.

"FEAR!"

"Today was one of those weird days. Let's go home already…! Che!"


	7. Chapter 7: Copyright infringment

**Chapter 7: Copyright infringement **

10:10 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday October the 1st…

"… Really. Joseph. I insist. My latest employer was NUTS."

"Oh come on. Trevor. Ever since when a military mechanic like you runs into trouble to begin with? Don't kid me."

"I did and I think I got into one hell of a mess. I'm not kidding either, see."

"Really?"

_Hum! Interesting… Kuwabara, kuwabara…_

A man was sitting in a chair next to a table in a bar somewhere and listening to the conversation of two mechanics (given how they had blue overalls and caps plus a racing team's logo in the right side of their chest) while looking interested.

The man could be on his late forties.

He had blond hair although his face was covered in hardened veins: his eyes' irises were blue in color

He was dressed in an olive green military uniform and he had long brown leather gloves on, too, plus boots.

"To begin with. He had me work in a PMC." Trevor began.

"PMC! That's cool." Joseph sounded intrigued.

"They had a cool nice chopper but he told me he wanted it to malfunction at least once per month."

"What nonsense is THAT?"

"I dunno: he just told me to do it if I valued my neck."

"Hell. Who was that guy?"

"Not sure… They always covered their head in bandages and spoke in a hushed tone… They could be over a meter and eighty tall but I had no way of guessing their age…"

"Really… And what happened next?"

"Well. The PMC sold off the chopper to a Singapore company which that guy owned and then had come over to make some changes to it such as painting it over, replacing the tail number and building a fake TV camera over the front machinegun… Once I was done with that he gave me a check for 5 million dollars and told me to get lost."

"5 m-million?"

"Sure… The guy's name was "Hell's Envoy" and they had a thick Oregon dialect which made it hard understanding them…"

"Why the hell would they bother SO much?"

"Dunno."

"Excuse me."

"Huh! Y-yes, sir?"

"Have you heard the news as of late? That terrorist attack…"

The man on the neighbor table had stood up and walked over to them while looking serious.

"D-don't tell me that the chopper involved…!" Trevor realized.

"Yes. It's the same one you've just described… But I don't blame you for that: you were being threatened… I'm Colonel Thunderbolt… A member of the "Committee"… Did "Hell's Envoy" have any other peculiar traits?"

"I took a photo when he wasn't looking…" Trevor admitted.

"Ah! Excellent."

He took out a digital camera and showed the photo to Colonel Thunderbolt: he calmly picked the SD card from the camera and copied the files into his own camera.

"This will be helpful to us. Good morning."

"Oh hell… That guy almost accused me of helping out terrorists even…!"

11:51 AM (Japan Time)…

"… and, therefore, there currently is no know one hundred percent reliable method to predict the onset of volcanoes at long-term. Only if the volcano begins showing up a set of signs it might be calculated that it is likely to erupt in the near future…"

A Natural Sciences teacher was reading aloud from a textbook: the 3-A Class students were writing down all which was being explained.

"The next topic is…"

The whole classroom and building shook and moved: everyone looked around, baffled.

"Don't panic! It's just a small quake!" The teacher ordered.

The quake and tremor soon died down: everyone sighed in relief.

"I'm going for a minute to check with the other teachers. Don't move from your posts."

The teacher ran out and the classroom was filled with the noise of talk.

"It's been years since we had a quake." Netto commented.

"Yeah. Luckily it'd seem it was a relatively low-scale one. Besides, most buildings nowadays are built with strong foundations to resist such things." Saito added from the desk directly behind Netto's.

"I wasn't aware of that. It'd seem I should've looked it up." Nelaus commented while sitting at Saito's right.

"Thank goodness there wasn't any dust… It'd ruined my hair." Yaito sighed while looking at the ceiling.

"What a pity: they didn't cancel the rest of the classes." Dekao sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Dekao – kun! You're skipping classes?"

"E~h? No, no! It's not that at all, Meiru – chan!" Dekao held his palms up in defense.

"Come on! Bickering is pointless." Tooru added.

"He's got a point, I'd say." Isaac commented.

"I agree! Desu!" Ice Man added.

"Guts, guts! Don't worry, Roll – chan! Guts Man is here to protect you! De guts!" Guts Man punched his torso.

"Oh? Is that so? I thought you and Ice Man preferred to protect Aki-chan instead…" Roll grinned in a sneaky manner.

"O~H! GATTSU~! AKI-CHA~N!" Guts Man danced around.

"He's obsessed over it: isn't that right?" Glyde commented while rolling his eyes.

"Guess that." Blood Shadow wasn't surprised.

"Mwah, hah, hah… I heard there was going to be a concert in two days' time." Sigma added in a hushed conspiracy tone.

"UO~H! Dekao – kun! I must be there! I must be there!" Guts Man pleaded.

"Oh come on!" Dekao protested.

"Dragon's newest banner: credits to Sigma for translation! "Oh unwise neophyte: thou who recklessly charge into the battle for "love" are misguided and foolish: thou fate shall be to become one with the ground and be washed away by the storms."…"

"T-that means ME?" Dekao seemingly guessed.

"Oi. Dragon wasn't aiming at anyone in particular and I don't decide which banners he prints!"

"That banner sounded like some RPG parody to begin with." Isaac fumed.

"It's gotta be RPG Man's handiwork, Isaac – sama~!"

"Nelaus. Stop getting in league with Sigma and resume writing down!"

"Quake and Quack are gonna shake and rumble! Mwah, hah, hah!"

12:03 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh! My rare Chips are so bright, de masu! They are shining more than any precious stone on the Earth, de masu! Soon I will be able to go into a _real_ date with Mariko – sensei, de masu! Heh, heh, heh!"

Higure was standing behind the counter of his store and singing a tune while was rubbing his hands in excitement.

"I suspected so, Higure Yamitarou!" Someone accused.

Commander Beef walked in at his military-like pace.

"Commander Beef! You again, de masu?"

"Correct, Higure Yamitarou! More importantly! I see that you yet again forget that Mariko – sensei likes this gallant man!" He replied with obvious pride.

"Hah! De masu! That's wrong: you look like a weird guy! De masu! But I am cleaner!"" Higure replied with a grin.

"Trouble…" Number Man sighed.

"These two…!" Shark Man was exasperated by now.

"Is that so?" Commander Beef sounded offended.

Commander Beef suddenly leaned both hands on the counter and faced Higure so Higure did the same.

"You're outdated, de masu! You reek of rotten eel and tuna, de masu!" He pointed an accusing finger at him and grinned.

"WHAT?" Commander Beef clenched both fists.

"That's right, de masu! You're worse than eating badly-made _ramen_, de masu! You're pathetic, de masu!" Higure kept pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I'm pathetic, you say? I'm going to…!"

"Ahem, ahem!" Someone cleared his throat behind Commander Beef.

They both looked at the entryway and spotted Dark Miyabi there, who was smiling.

"A customer! De masu! You get lost, de masu! You're in the way of business, de masu!" Higure protested.

"Nobody bosses me around! You! The weird guy! Leave! We have a dispute to settle." Commander Beef didn't bother to turn.

"I don't think so." Miyabi smiled.

He took out some small spherical objects and threw them at Commander Beef's feet: they detonated and caused a black smoke.

"I can't breathe! Grah! I'm outta here! But I'll be back!"

"Phew."

"About time…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Shadow Man He Who Sponsors Arcane Rituals Came To The Undignified Rescue."

"Oh come on." Number Man groaned.

"Sorry for the holdup, de masu! What would you wish? De masu?" Higure asked with his classical smile.

"Well. I was looking for a _Kawarimi_ Battle Chip. Do you have one?" Miyabi calmly asked.

"Here you have! De masu!"

He grabbed it from the shelf and handed it to Miyabi.

"Good. I'll make the pay via an electronic money transfer."

He pressed some buttons on the Link PET and the register in the counter beeped.

"Have a good morning and make sure that that helmeted show-off doesn't strangle you or kill you off with his rotten tunas." Miyabi grinned.

"… De masu?" Higure frowned.

16:56 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So… A quake hit Dark Land and Cream Land some hours ago?"

"Yeah! They just spoke of it over the TV. Cream Land was not affected by much, but it'd seem Dark Land lost an entire military compound."

Netto was chatting with Sigma on the bedroom as he worked on his homework assignments.

"Speaking of Dark Land… I still remember their ploy with that double agent of them, that Napalm Man guy. It's already been… What! Over four years already? Whoa! Time sure passes by quickly." Netto commented.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Yeah, I knew of that ploy. It'd seem that "Gospel" was trying to make the two countries destroy each other at the time. In fact, snooping around, we found an old data file of that time. Freeze Man was pretty pissed off by the fact that Rock Man had ruined it. Shuryou then said that it mattered not and that they were going to stop the "playtime" and move into the "big event"..." Sigma explained.

"Oho! That's interesting to hear."

Saito had walked carrying his Link PET on the arm strap.

"Did you get the book you were looking for?" Netto asked.

"Yeah, I did."

He sat on his chair and left the Link PET on the desk: Blood Shadow projected from its hologram projector.

"That guy was too full of himself… Napalm Man." Saito commented.

"Sure was… Using "ore-sama" to begin with…"

"Masa-Ero! Erotic Masa – san! Mwah, hah, hah."

"Please… We're not here to make H jokes, Sigma!" Blood Shadow fumed.

"Bloody~ Shadowy~ wants to have a hot night?"

"No. And shut it before Commander Omega drops by and scolds you."

"Heh, heh, heh… Hush strikes back!"

"Shadow Man. Show up."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Honoring the name is Shadow Man?"

"That's some Master Yoda parody."

Shadow Man emerged from Sigma's shadow and showed them the photo of "Hell's Envoy": he wore an open brown leather coat with an "R" logo on the upper right corner, gloves, a sweater and pants plus shoes.

His face was covered in bandages and he had a hostile expression on him as he glanced sideways at something.

"Ah. So his looks are inspired by "Hush" from Bat-man… Talk about ironic: they're very silent indeed if no one seems to know where they are at or where they were at…" Blood Shadow muttered.

"Ask Location Guy."

"He Who Is Located At Nowhere At All And Everywhere At All."

The twins slapped their foreheads out of exasperation: Shadow Man's mottoes were enough to drive anyone to those ends.

"I met Zero who was going to have a chat with Mr. X… It's 14 hours earlier there so… It's close to 3 AM… But it'd seem our Mr. X is used to work until late and such…" Shadow Man let out.

"Alright. Do you have anything else to contribute?"

"Maybe that Vader now talks about something named "Primordial" but I dunno if that's his future knowledge… He describes it as "the last of the Precursors"… "The timeless one"… "The captive of Charum Hakkor"… "The harbinger of doom"… And he mentioned someone named "Beggar after knowledge"… But I dunno who they are." Shadow Man added.

"Don't mind the guy's attempts to spoil the future of videogames impress you, Shadow Man. Just ignore him and find more info…"

"Yeah… Find it… Before Info Eating Jerk eats it up! Mwah, hah, hah!"

05:05 AM (Chicago Time)…

"… I'm sorry to bother you at such an hour, Mr. Rainon…"

"Don't mind it, Zero… So?"

"A quake registering 3 in the Richter scale happened in the San Francisco area occurred 33 minutes ago…"

"3 quakes in less than 24 hours…"

Zero had appeared in a computer's screen and was talking to a man.

This man could be on his late 40s or early 50s and over a meter and eighty tall.

He had abundant brown hair which was neatly combed and his face was clean shaven so he didn't have any beard or moustache.

His eyes' irises were brown.

He wore a simple black suit with a black tie, pants and brown shoes.

He was standing inside of a rather unlit living room in skyscraper somewhere with sights to the Chicago skyline.

"Atomic Network is involved, then?" Zero guessed.

"But how can they cause the quakes to begin with?"

"Hmmm… Ah! I remembered something… In the James Bond movie _A View To Kill_ the villain intended to detonate a special bomb in a mine dug to try to find one of the spots in California where a tectonic movement occurred and thus provoke a massive quake… They could be using a non-manned sub which drills into trenches' walls and then inserts explosives which detonate…" Zero exposed.

"Aha-hah! So that's how it is. And their other targets were picked at random then… Our priority should be locating that submarine."

"There must be some wireless system for a Navi to go in or out and I'd guess that they're Ground-Elemental. Maybe they're fond of Ground PKMN and their "Earthquake" move too…"

"It wouldn't surprise me. How is Nelaus like? Yes, I should ask him directly but I wanted to have another PoV."

"Well. He seems to be having fun and all and he gets along nicely enough with the club… The B Class students seem to find him cool given how he "officially" came from Ameroupe…"

"Good. He gets involved with the others?"

"Last time I checked he did. Speaking of checking, I checked on Vincent "Red" just in case but he was just drunk and I saw him going down a street, yell, and get a pot with earth on it over his head… I don't think Twilight will bother to hire him and Atomic Network won't either… I did show you the photo we finally got, right?"

"Correct. I've dispatched it to the agencies and they're investigating this Singapore company which is also being looked upon the local police because of tax evasion… They should soon confess where did the guy come out from and how he approached them…"

"Good idea. Any bit of data we can collect is worth it: this guy is our only chance to figure out what Atomic Network really is about… And we need to figure out if they're the leader or not…"

"Metto!"

"Metto~!"

"What?"

Zero turned around to spot two Mettools with the numbers "29" and "30" printed on their helmet foreheads using purple paint: they ran off and Zero fumed.

"Heck. Legion 64. They were stalking me and now Twilight will go chase the sub to show up and taunt Atomic Network along the way…"

"As long as they don't attack us…"

"Hum. Good point. Well. I'm going to report this to Vadous. Good-bye."

"Hmpf… Atomic Network… You got "God complex", huh? No surprise."

03:17 AM (San Francisco Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

A Navi hidden by a brown cloak and hood was standing inside of a round Cyber World which included a Core Block and a holographic control panel: they typed a code into it while chuckling.

"This time around Siberia's gonna shake and rumble…"

They pressed the "RETURN" key but a fanfare rang out and a message showed up onscreen.

"What in the is this about, you…? "'YOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF HOLLYWOOD COPYCATS!"… What the hell? Somebody messed with the Operating System? That's impossible! The sub cannot be traced! It's impossible to locate! Only I can find it! No – one else should be able to locate it, you know!" The Navi gasped.

"It _can_ be traced, fella." A voice corrected.

"Damn it."

The Navi turned around to see Blood Shadow aiming his already loaded shotgun at the Navi.

"How about you take off that silly "Zoanoroid" fashion?"

"Hmpf! Fine!"

The Navi tossed the cloak aside.

His helmet's main color was a mix of dust gray and several shades of brown varying in brightness: a small round circle with a shining brown jewel had been set in the middle of the forehead.

The face's cheek had purplish circuitry patterns on them while his eyes' irises were blood red.

The body's choice of color was several patches of brown and gray of different bright and lengths mixed at random along with occasional patterns of purple circuitry there and there.

His emblem's edge was purple and the drawing itself was a mountain range with three peaks identical in height and colored black.

His shoulders were anatomically correct and had scales made of shards of stone varying in width, height and thickness.

The arms and legs shared the main body's random mixing of colors and the purple patterns across their length: his elbows and knees didn't stand out either.

The forearms and boots had a cyan color with three circling bands of brown coloring set at fixed intervals across their height: their palms contained a miniature purplish dome on them covered in brown patterns as well.

His boots also had spikes on their soils as if he was a hiker.

"My name is _Earth Rock Man_! We of Atomic Network shall make the foundations of the human's world be shaken!" The Navvi announced with pride.

"BWAH, HAH, HAH! It's a copyright infringement! You're so gonna end up in the courts!" Blood Shadow exploded into laughter, for once.

"What's so funny?" Earth Rock Man demanded.

"There's already a Net Navi named Rock Man!"

"I knew that! But he doesn't live up to the name! That's why I am Earth Rock Man: my specialty is the soil!" He countered.

"You've never bothered to look up a dictionary, right? "Rock" is a word with multiple meanings… In Rock Man's case, the name is taken out of "Rock & Roll"…." Blood Shadow told him.

"He's not a musical group member, you know!"

"It's not meant to be literal! You're gonna have to change your name to "Earth Man" if you want to avoid ending up in the courts!" Blood Shadow taunted him next with a sneer.

"Grah! I'm fed up with this! Quake Sphere! Eat this!"

"Oho. No negotiations? Better, then. Let's get down to the action."

"Me! To! Metto!"

"And it'd seem the VIP guest found us."

"VIP Guest?"

"Do not underestimate the power of the Subspace. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Fuck! You're Twilight!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! I gotta agree with the runt over there: your name is lame and is an attempt to make a parody out of Rock Man's name to begin with… Typical of Tesla Magnets!"

"Tesla Magnets is unrelated! Everyone is telling you the same!"

"You're not convincing enough, Admiral."

"Vader" showed up there after his Metools raised the alarm and made his usual motto parody while signaling Earth Rock Man as he formed a brown boulder over his head and lifted it with his forearms: he threw it at Blood Shadow and he merely recoiled: Earth Rock Man formed two Long Blades colored brown and jumped towards Blood Shadow who calmly crouched while bending the right leg and having the left one rest on the ground as he lifted his shotgun and shot a blast of plasma: Earth Rock Man cancelled his jump by seemingly increasing his own weight using a boulder he attached to his back and hit the floor with the spikes: purple energy travelled across the circuitry patches and some purple lightning leapt out of it to hit Blood Shadow: he grumbled but didn't mind them too much: Earth Rock Man suddenly appeared in front of him and began to punch him several times but Blood Shadow merely yielded terrain: "Vader" brought the right hand to his chin and was seemingly looking on while making a weak chuckle.

"Heh, heh, heh… Alright… 47 and 48! What news do you have for me today~? Did Dow Jones hit the floor? Let the stock hit the floor!" He called out with obvious sarcasm.

Two new Mettools formed the "Win RAR" icon and he studied the data while being seemingly interested.

"Aha-hah! So he was in Singapore as recently as 5 days ago but then fled."

"What! You found about "Hell's Envoy"…? Ah! The mechanic! I knew it was a bad idea to let them loose!" Earth Rock Man gasped.

"Not like the guy knew the ID of "Hell's Envoy"… Only his "Hush" cosplaying habit… And his Oregon accent…" Twilight shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"… By the way, Earth Rock Man… Aren't you surprised I haven't bothered to counter-attack yet?"

"Huh? Oh crap!"

BLAM!

"Ugrah!"

"Gotcha. My shotgun has a Muramasa function too: it can increase the damage to be delivered given the hits I get…"

Blood Shadow delivered a powerful blast from his shotgun and Earth Rock Man recoiled while grumbling.

"Shit. I got cocky!"

"And that's not all… No matter how much combat data you look up you guys forget something: we evolve, we improve… And your tactics are more suited to standard-level battling than guys like us… The "Darkloids" were harder to chew because they could try to improve too and they had enough imagination to exploit other forms of combat… You guys get obsessed with "like this" and "like that" but that's not all there's to battling…" Blood Shadow lectured.

"No way! Then why did the "Darkloids"…?"

"Why did they last so much? I told you: they had a strategy and they knew the speed, direction and other factors of their attacks which they didn't shoot at random trying to settle it with one or two blows."

"What?"

"They didn't try to play cool... Which is what you guys do, anyway… You were sent to real battles in a rush after looking up in a rushed manner the battle data and hoping you could catch us unaware and hit us a lot."

"Che! Plasma Man! The jerk! Why does he have to take all the glory when he got beaten twice in a row? I dunno why he's the favorite! But at least this proved to the world one thing: you CAN create earthquakes and use them to ravage the lands! What we Atomic Network have begun… Others will continue! Even if you take us down someone sometime will come up with a new system or will use this same system to spread terror and chaos across this world!" He got cocky.

"Then show me your real strength."

"Hroa~h! Rock Armor! Tackle Mode!"

Scales made of rock formed all around Earth Rock Man as he crouched and assumed a wheel shape: he shot forward and rammed into Blood Shadow while leaving some of those scales stabbed into his armor: the blow had also pushed him to the floor but Blood Shadow simply aimed the shotgun and when the guy came back for more he shot at him.

"Ugrah! That damned blast can pierce through the Rock Armor? And Plasma Man said I'd be unstoppable! The jerk didn't bother to make the calculations on the strength of this or WHAT?"

"That was more like an attempt to imitate a "Goron" from the _Legend of Zelda_ to begin with… And you forget that my shotgun gets stronger and you surely never bothered to calculate how much it can pack."

"Shit. I'm fed up with this damned FIASCO AFTER FIASCO! We'll go imitate the hit and run: at least that ensured a long campaign! Plasma Man: you and I will have to TALK about MY "Rock Armor"! Get ready!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Copycats! Stray souls! Heh, heh, heh…"

"Vader" vanished after Earth Rock Man and Blood Shadow sighed in relief.

_I can't believe they're so lame… Are they acting weak in purpose or…?_


	8. Chapter 8: Synchronizer's power

**Chapter 8: Synchronizer's Power**

21:50 PM (Beijing Time), Wednesday October the 1st…

"… Landing: complete."

"Phew! It's been some months ever since I flew this babe but the vertical take-off and landing system works fine… What a surprise! I was about to go change to go nap and I get an "URGENT" tag email from someone in Choina providing an address…"

"And the text was this: "I know about Atomic Network. And their agent, Hell's Envoy. I will tell you. Come." … But how they did know our email, anyway? It's a trap by them."

"No doubt. Let's go meet with the Committee agents and organize a strategy… This plane only needed 45 minutes to make the trip from Japan and it's an hour earlier here…"

A combat jet landed in a patch of grass surrounded by tall trees in a soft and silent manner.

The pilot happened to be Nelaus who was wearing a flight helmet over his head plus an overcoat over his school uniform.

Isaac was projecting using a projector set atop the console.

"OK. Shutdown and engage stealth field… This plane can't be picked by radar so no – one will detect our arrival…" Nelaus muttered.

"The car is waiting on the agreed spot." Isaac reported.

"OK."

He took off the helmet and placed it to the side as he unsealed the cockpit and climbed out using a pair of rung ladders on the sides of the fuselage: he landed on the grass and put on a brown hat with a black band which looked somewhat _retro_ style.

"Heh, heh, heh… Let's go, Admiral."

"Jeez. Don't get cocky."

"I get amused."

"Sure, sure."

Nelaus headed over to outside of the clearing and into a nearby road where a green Subaru was waiting at with the engine on: two persons were onboard.

"The soy sauce was of sour quality, I take it?" The driver asked.

"Totally. I prefer convenience store sauce to super-market sauce. At least it's not as a weird as milk soy sauce in the first place."

"Password check: green. Agent Wong."

"Agent Li."

"Thank you for coming."

"It's nothing, sir. So… Where's the address?"

"Here it is."

Nelaus showed the email to the driver and he seemed to be trying to remember where it was.

"Isn't that on that nearby small neighborhood, Li?" He asked the passenger as if to check.

"Then it's gotta be a trap, Wong… There are rumors of mercenaries and other dangerous folk roaming around there…"

"I knew it: but if we can get a bit of information on "Hell's Envoy" then it's worth walking into the trap and triggering it." Nelaus argued.

"The sooner we get any solid threads to the guy's whereabouts then the better, don't you think so?" Isaac added.

"Good point, Mr. Rainon. Let's go, Li. Take out the GPS."

"Roger, Wong. Please climb in: we'll be there in just 15 minutes." Li instructed.

"Alright. Let's go meet this trap."

22:18 PM (Beijing Time)…

"… Here's the place… That house with the red lantern…"

"Not a very welcoming place, yeah…"

"So? What do we do?"

"Wait 5 minutes. If I don't come back, then… You break in. If I yell or if you hear a sound then… Come in too."

"Good."

Nelaus climbed down from the car and headed for a small stone hut which had a single room and the door of which had been opened: the room was bare stone and was lit by an old-fashioned oil lamp.

The only furniture apart from the lamp was a wooden bench it was placed atop of.

There was a man on his late 30s and about Nelaus' height calmly sitting in the SE corner of the room behind the bench: his face didn't display anything and he seemed to be waiting for something.

He wore a simple red traditional shirt, pants and a small black cap plus sandals.

A very sharp and neat Choina sword had been placed atop the bench as well and it gleamed in the lighting.

"Good evening. Did you call for me?" Nelaus asked in English.

"… Lao Tzu said… "You must find the way"…" He slowly replied in slightly accented English.

"I won't question that." Nelaus calmly replied.

"I found it."

"No surprise." Isaac wasn't surprised either.

"You must find it too."

"Why did I see this coming a mile away, anyway?"

The man slowly stood up and lowered his arms to lean them on the table while lowering his glance too.

"You will know the truth…"

"When we pledge loyalty?" Isaac tried to guess.

He suddenly lifted the sword upwards and held it backwards.

"…when I cut off your HEAD!"

"Excellent introduction." Nelaus sarcastically replied.

"Totally."

"Don't be afraid!"

"Who is gonna be afraid of a pawn in a chessboard?"

"It's a VERY sharp blade!"

He placed the edge on the table and swiftly swept his left hand over its surface.

"We didn't doubt that, mister." Isaac simply said.

The man swiftly jumped over the table and landed in front of the door while swinging the blade but Nelaus merely ducked.

"Just one small peck…!"

He maneuvered the blade to aim downwards and forward before he thrust it forward but Nelaus calmly jumped over the table and landed back using his right foot to keep the blade pinned: the man tried to pull it free but Nelaus' applied weight impeded him from: he looked up with a defiant face.

"…will sever… YOUR NECK!"

THUD!

"Ow!"

"Heh! You didn't see that one coming?"

"Huh!"

Nelaus delivered a fist to his face and knocked him back and into the ground: the blade fell into the ground too and the two agents rushed in while aiming both guns at the man, lying face-up on the ground.

"What happened?" Li asked.

"This guy tried to sever my neck while quoting Lao Tzu."

"Sever neck, Lao Tzu…? Now, where have I heard that before…? Ah! There was a madman inviting people to "find Lao Tzu's way" but then cut off their necks… The police arrested him 3 years ago and was sent to the asylum… He got 13 persons like that by switching villages… It created quite a scandal…" Li recalled.

"By all the… So Atomic Network decided to play dirty and have this mad guy do the job for them… Hell's Envoy must've gotten the guy outta the asylum using a "Dimensional Converter"..."

"And tried to bring a "dramatic" demise to me…"

"'Cause Drama Girl dropped by his turf… Don't underestimate the power of clever guys. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Ex-_senpai_. I was wondering when you'd face me in person."

Nelaus calmly turned around to face "Vader" who had picked the blade and was looking at it with some mild interest.

"Heh, heh, heh… I know what _kyoudai_'s up to… An interesting _parallelism_… Amusing, by Tarkin and Daala!" He chuckled.

"What parallelism? He's just working on a program to strengthen Isaac past his usual battle abilities." Nelaus didn't see the point.

"Heh, heh, heh… Maybe you'll realize one day… The "Shadow Schemer" has spoken… Heh, heh, heh…"

"He left… What a snobby guy. Let's go back to Japan already, Nelaus."

"Yeah… Tomorrow's a Thursday anyway so there'll be work…"

17:17 PM (Japan Time), Thursday October the 2nd…

"… Mail from Shark Man…?"

"You sound suspicious, Saito – niisan…"

"I can't help it: after what happened to Nelaus and Isaac yesterday…"

"You've got a point."

"So it's another trap."

"But maybe it doesn't involve Dragon's crazy comrades!"

"Jeez. You can't use just one guy as sample."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Bloody~ Shadowy~ got annoyed?"

"Sigma. Stop being a moron."

"Yikes! Commander Omega!"

"Anyway… Rock Man. I've brought a program for you which could come in handy but I'd rather not use yet: it needs some time to properly integrate with your Net Navi body."

"Alright. Let's go meet this trap."

"I'll provide cover. But if you quickly draw out your best weapons then the villain will get pounded if they're someone like the others…"

Saito and Netto had been at home and working on their homework when a mail reached Saito: he greeted it with suspicion and Sigma made a joke on the spot which Blood Shadow didn't like and which Omega (who'd just come in) reprimanded as he carried a glowing red spheroid about 30cm tall on his hands.

"Netto – kun. Handle the Operating."

"Roger, Saito – niisan."

Saito simply climbed into the bed and rested face-up there as Netto approached the PET: a laser shot out from his right eye and his eyes closed as Rock Man appeared inside of the PET.

"Transfer: successful."

"Good. Sigma and Blood. Handle this spot: I'll handle the field."

"Roger!"

"Aye, aye!"

"Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"

Rock Man entered the PC and he accepted Omega's program: he placed it so that it touched his chest emblem and it emitted some streaks of vermillion light before it entered his body and did nothing: Rock Man seemed to examining the thing.

"It's started to uncompress and install… But it'll take about 15 minutes anyway… It seems to have a switch to trigger it…"

"Yeah… But I want you to save it up just in case: it will become a new ace-in-the-hole and we don't want to show it to them too early."

"Roger. Let's go at the spot: Block 3C Crossroad 11."

"If memory serves it's a highly transited area… Not the ideal spot for an ambush unless there's a message there diverting us elsewhere…" Omega rubbed his chin.

"Meh. No big deal." He shrugged.

"Good. That's the attitude: you don't care what they throw at you and you simply show them how stupid their tactics are."

"That's my duty as Net Savior. I'm starting to understand Search Man better and the lessons he taught me on the field 3 and half years ago: orders and duty are priority one."

They stepped over the firewall gateway and into Internet City where Omega kept a 2 meter distance from Rock Man to give him some space to maneuver and respect his personal space: Rock Man spotted Shark Man standing in the SE corner of a crossroad which had several Navis there chatting and walking through: Rock Man merely lifted the right eyebrow and seemed to be suspecting something.

"This looks too nice… It's gotta be 3D imagery…" Omega whispered to Rock Man.

"Or "Phantom Navis"… They could've repaired Cache's servers…"

"Good point… I'm going to stay closer."

"Alright. I don't mind if you're only 30 cm from me: the closer the better because we can act in unison and synchronized…" Rock Man whispered back.

"Be careful, Rock Man. I've installed the Sigma Sword in your temporary cache in case they tried to jam our communications." Netto whispered next.

"OK. Let's go for it."

Rock Man stepped into the crossroad and, suddenly, four tall thick Plexiglas walls rose from the entrances to seal it up from the sides plus a central slab dropped from above to completely enclose the space: all Navis vanished all of a sudden.

"Hmpf. And you call this a trap? It's lame."

"Totally. But these walls have some energy field which stops me from cutting through them… I'll have to blast my way through one of these buildings unless… The walls leading to that spot are shielded too… But I could use some mass to overload it too… Give me a few seconds and I'll figure a way in." Omega muttered as he touched it from the outside and didn't look surprised.

"So! Whose turn is it today?" He taunted.

"Grenade!"

A grenade fell from the sky and drew an arch as it landed in front of Rock Man's feet but he merely kicked it as if it was an empty can and it exploded in mid-air: a figure landed on the ground.

"Hah! You fell into my trap, Rock Man!"

"A new face?" Rock Man guessed.

"Name's… Grenadier Man!"

Grenadier Man could be about a meter and ninety tall.

His eyes' irises were purple and his skin was white in color: he carried a small square LCD display over his right eye akin to Search Man's which seemingly helped him process information.

The helmet had a slightly different design compared to others in the fact that it formed two inclined slides travelling parallel and then joined a circle on the base of it which served as additional armor for the neck: its color was blood red with a round sapphire set on the forehead.

His body was mainly colored olive green with some patches of brown and black scattered around in random spots across it: the _katakana_ "gureneedo" or "grenade" were written vertically on the flanks of his body using blood red color.

His shoulders were encompassed in cubical armor having camouflage patches all over them: his arms had eight spread thin black lines travelling across them, forming a matrix in the elbow and reaching until the forearms.

The forearms used a mix of green and brown with blue random dots across their surface as well yet his right forearm had a large gun with a main round muzzle about 25cm wide and the upper half of four cylinders popping out of the corners: the whole gun was metallic gray and lacked any real paint.

He sported a belt colored black and which had eight grenades colored lush green and with a purple band attached to them.

His legs imitated the arms' patterns and his knees had a central red dot drawn into them as if they were eyes while his boots used black as their main color plus purple circling bands.

Other traits included were a simple cubical backpack colored navy blue attached to his back as if it was a schoolbag.

He currently looked smug and confident.

"Grenadier Man, huh. Who else is waiting?"

"Huh? Ah! No – one! I'm last on the list!"

"So! It's just 6 of you… And you hope to beat over 15 defenders alone and with such lame tactics? They look like imitations of the Darkloids' own non-existent battle tactics." Rock Man told him.

"W-what's with that face? You're supposed to be feeling nervous!"

"What part of "I'm not impressed so easily" you guys don't get or you don't intend to understand? Sigma Sword."

"Hey! But I jammed the line with your Operator!"

"I had this on the cache memory before coming over. I've learnt to be able to fend off independently without my Operator. Omega and the others provided enough training. Speaking of which, he'll find a way inside this before you can count 45 seconds." Rock Man replied.

He brandished the Sigma Sword and it glowed with a crimson glow on the edges before Rock Man suddenly let go of it and it began to float vertically on the middle of the air before it started to spin clockwise until it gained speed and shot upwards to then fall and hit the floor right behind Grenadier Man: a crimson shockwave of energy travelled across the air at the height of the waist and sent him flying across the space (Rock Man had simply stepped asides to the left) and hitting the walls: he got electrocuted, groaned and fell into the ground while Rock Man held the sword horizontally to block any attacks.

"Was that enough for you or you want the full treatment?"

"Shit. Eat these!"

He quickly opened those upper cylindrical covers and placed grenades on them before he closed them and four cylinders to shoot grenades popped out: he loaded one on his central muzzle too.

"Grenade Volley!"

He shot them in five different angles and positions.

"Hum. You plan on having them bounce around and then hit me one after the other… It won't work."

He calmly jumped into the air and began to bounce off the grenades with the Sigma Sword: they beeped in unison but, instead of exploding, they just created a thick smoke which reduced visibility: Rock Man landed back on the ground, surprised.

"Ah. So it's not the usual tactic."

"RPG!"

"What, an RPG rip-off?"

BLAM!

"UGRAH!"

"Hah!"

A brutal explosion hit Rock Man's back and propelled him to the ground with violence where he ended up face-down: he groaned and convulsed as he tried to assess the scale of the damage.

"M-my backpack's gone…! My back has a hole on it and I'm leaking data too… What the hell… was that? That's cowardly!"

"Hah, hah, hah!"

Grenadier Man suddenly loomed over him while aiming an RPG-7 weapon at him and Rock Man grimaced.

"Shit. RPG also means Rocket Propelled Grenade…!" He realized with a groan as he tried to keep his head up.

"Say farewell!"

"Not so fast! Greiga Breath!"

"Ugra~h! What the hell are those flames? Who's there?"

"Isaac! A "Net Savior"!"

"What the fuck?"

"And this is… The power of the "Synchronizer"!"

Isaac had suddenly appeared on the spot but he'd gained a new "beast" armor over his main body.

His helmet had the shape of a beast's mouth plus six triangles spreading in a formation colored golden: a symbol which looked like some kind of orange star was set on the segment of it corresponding to the helmet's forehead.

A black mouth-guard covered the nose and mouth.

The chest armor was colored in a greenish color with thin goldenrod borders and three white shapes in the form of claws placed over the shoulders: a hole in the middle of the armor allowed for the chest emblem to be displayed: there were two pieces of reddish armor built directly underneath the main one.

The forearm armor started slightly below the elbows and contained a red segment before the main piece which had two claws protruding from it and over the hands.

The feet armor started below the knee and included two goldenrod diamond-like shapes over the knees: the feet had red armor just before the fingers started, which had been turned into a set of three claws which looked sharp.

Lastly, he also had a green tail with two golden shapes built near the end of it protruding from his back.

"What in the… But that's…!" Grenadier Man gasped.

"I know it looks like Cybeast Greiga… You surely witnessed the rebuilding Twilight did of the "Beyondard" War… Well! By using the "Synchronizer" and his "Bestialize Factor" antibodies I've gained this ability… The "Bestialize" ability!" Isaac exclaimed.

"How did you get in!"

"Same way you guys escape: by burrowing a hole underground and emerging from there… You couldn't block your own escape route!"

"Fuck!"

"Greiga Claw!"

Isaac dashed forward at a mad speed and quickly swung his claws to inflict important cuts to Grenadier Man: Omega rushed next to Rock Man and his hands glowed with a pinkish glow as he began to heal his wounds: Rock Man merely looked on with awe.

"What speed…!"

"Truth to be told, your "Alternate" gave us the idea… And Boss decided to investigate Trill's abilities further to try to implement this ability: Iris helped with her knowledge too."

"He's got a… "Falzer" form… too?"

"Yeah. Don't move too much: the damage was grave but your "Ultimate Program" wasn't affected. If you stay still I'll finish the repairs but you'll need a bit of rest…"

"Bestialize Chip, Falzer! Slot In!"

A column of crimson energy formed at Isaac's feet and shot upwards while creating a shockwave at the same time: Grenadier Man (whose two weapons had been sliced to pieces) recoiled.

"W-what next?"

"Feather Shoot!"

Isaac had switched to another form: this alternate "Bestialize" form had a helmet with a golden edge and a red shape aiming backwards and upwards protruding from it: a greenish jewel in the form of a bird was set on the forehead as well.

The face was partly hidden by the mouth-guard yet the eyes displayed that Isaac was conscious of what he was doing.

The upper part of the chest armor had a brownish/grayish color plus a red stripe just underneath the blackened chest emblem: it looked like a bird's torso, even.

The forearms had red armor with a grayish/brownish edge around the wrists plus a small triangle-like piece near the start of it: the hands had become finger-claws colored white.

The boots had a greenish/azure diamond set over the knees and a general conical shape with three large metallic claws instead of the usual feet fingers.

Two sets of wings of four each one colored red with an azure edge emerged from the back of the body and seemingly allowed for Isaac to fly upwards.

He proved it by beating them and flying upwards before drawing a gun similar to the Wide Wave Battle Chip and shooting out several feathers at a mad speed which embedded into Grenadier Man's body and began to explode one after the other: Grenadier Man groaned and managed to drop to his knees and hit the floor with his left fist to open the rotating trap-door and escape.

"Metto~!"

"Met-tto~…"

Two Mettools with the numbers 59 and 60 showed up and "Vader" strode into the picture looking around as if he was examining the deal.

"Hmpf! So you managed to recreate that ability, _kyoudai_."

"Sure I did. Now show your ugly hide."

"My appealing hide, you mean?" He came up with some sarcasm on the spot as always.

"It'd only appeal to your ego."

"Maybe you need to sign in to voice Vader in the about-to-release _Star Wars: The Force Unleashed? _Or you're gonna play the Ameroupe version and hear to the original Vader voice, anyway?" He taunted.

"Jeez. It released half a month ago in Ameroupe anyway. But I'll play the Japan version nevertheless when it comes out in about one week's time."

"Heh, heh, heh… As expected of _kyoudai_. You're right."

"Quoting Liquid Ocelot won't help you win, you know."

"Quoting Master Confucius won't help you stay sane, you know."

"Hmpf. Go compete with your buddy Ra's al Ghul."

"I'd rather go myself." Yamato Man's hologram chuckled.

"I'd rather fry Super Man to a crisp." Cloud Man grinned.

"Hmpf! I'd show "Super-boy Prime" how pitiful they are." Cosmo Man crossed his arms.

"I'll beat the Bat-plane to speed!" Swallow Man laughed.

"Heh, heh, heh… I'll freeze them and exhibit them as ice sculptures before I dispose of that pathetic Penguin and the competency Mr. Freeze in a breeze… Gotham City shall become Twilight – sama's domain!"

"Fire Arm!"

"Hmpf. So the savages showed up."

Fire Man had suddenly attacked "Vader" but given how it was a hologram then the attacks had no real effect: Freeze Man merely signaled Fire Man and then tilted his neck to the right to make a creaking sound as if he'd snapped it: Fire Man seemed to frown.

"You're supposed to die." He taunted.

"Hmpf!"

"Go, Fire Man! Burn them to a crisp! Melt them down! Melt-down time!"

"Hino Kenichi… Wallow in despair and hopelessness and powerlessness!"

"DAMN YOU~!" Hinoken growled.

"Vader" and the others quickly vanished with a flash: Rock Man formed a grimace while Omega grumbled something.

_Will this stupid campaign end already? I'm fed up with these guys! _


	9. Chapter 9: O  Program

**Chapter 9: O – Program**

14:14 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 3rd…

"… So! Regal. Have you figured out anything, you and Yuriko?"

"Not much… Except for the rumor that Hell's Envoy lives in Oregon…"

"But without any more specifics… We can't start searching a whole state!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Huff!"

"Nya~h! I wanna beat the real Freeze Man and not get laughed at by some fucking damned hologram!"

"Che."

"_By damnation_! I want to beat _aniki_ but the guy doesn't dare to stick out their hide! Hah! _Coward_!"

"We've already won - twice."

"Bad boys will be bad boys."

"Tee, heh, heh. Syob dab eb lliw syob dab."

"That mirroring thing sounds weird, Colored Man."

"As weird as Martian."

Dr. Wily was sitting in his usual Maha Ichiban's seat and discussing with both Regal and Yuriko: Regal didn't look so smug and cocky like he'd done a few months ago and instead looked troubled or like he didn't see anything funny to life anymore: Yuriko looked tired and Needle Man sighed in defeat: they paid no heed to the conversations around them.

"I've been a fool for too long… Just because I had my genes revamped by "Duo" that didn't qualify me to try to rule the world. The only right thing was to try to stop their descent into Earth…"

"We all make mistakes, Regal, and you need to learn from them. I've got a lot more of mistakes to amend for." Wily sighed.

"I don't have so many but I'm glad neesan is in high spirits…"

"By the way: what happened with the "trick" Rock Man had? I think I never got to figure out the answer."

"Dr. Yoru said Forte did get to figure out where Rock Man's missing pieces were at but he eventually realized a stable fusion with him was impossible and so was with Blues so he gave up on that…"

"Hence why he switched to try to bring the old "DA" facility online and visited me at the prison 3 years ago… And they did get to do that twice in the end… But what happened to them?"

"When battling that Vadous guy in some weird Time-Space thing a crack formed by accident and they got sucked in: that crack apparently led to some other Time-Space and there was no way to retrieve them: we think they ended up alive and all but we don't know any more than that."

"I see. And I heard about Twilight roaming around…"

"Yes. He uses a Darth Vader hologram and can project holograms of the Darkloids he "absorbed" in the summer… We've already verified they're their very consciousnesses running as independent programs on the hologram terminals he deploys…"

"Hmmm… I had a talk with Dr. Hikari already and more or less we agreed to allow me one final chance until the winter… The Net Police will then evaluate how it was like… I talked with Hikari Netto and his brother and they seem to tolerate me: I don't think they hold into any grudges but they just must be untrusting given my past behavior…"

"I'm surprised you didn't attempt to rebuild Laser Man, though…"

"I saw no point on it."

"Shah, shah, shah! They could've thought he was regressing."

"Hum. You've got a point." Yuriko muttered.

"Behold my newest mirroring spell!" Colored Man called out.

"You call that mirroring spell?" Fire Man sighed.

"It's stupid." Elec Man grumbled.

"Not as stupid as the tale that NASA spent a lot of bucks trying to develop a pen which can write in outer space and that Sharo beat them to it by using just pencils… It's an urban legend… NASA did use pencils as well: anyone would've thought of that, anyway." Magic Man muttered with a hint of annoyance.

"Behold! Yliw! Lager! Okiruy! Nam Eldeen! Aham! Nekonih! Iodam! Tnuoc Cele! Nam Erif! Nam Cigam! Nam Cele! Nam Deroloc!"

"I'd even say more: Nam Wodahs! Heh, heh, heh! Ibayim Krad! Heh, heh, heh…"

Shadow Man joined Colored Man on his "mirroring spell" and the whole restaurant sighed in resignation.

"DE MASU~! Is Nelaus – kun here, de masu? I MUST see him! De masu!"

"I told you, Yamitarou, that he's still in school."

"Huh? De masu? But what time is it?"

"14:31 PM. And they don't finish until 16:15 PM. They eat their _bento_ there on the lunch break."

"Hum! Uoratimay Erugih! Nam Rebnum!" Shadow Man chuckled.

"Huh? Is that Martian, de masu?"

"No. He simply mirrors our names, Yamitarou, by reading from the last letter to the first letter."

Higure had rushed in while looking excited and got disappointed at not finding Nelaus there: Number Man sighed.

"Why did you want to find him?" Yuriko asked.

"Shah, shah, shah! He wants those "Bestialize Chips" which he used yesterday: Shadow Man showed me the footage."

"I WILL PAY A MILLION Z FOR THEM! DE MASU~!" He exasperatedly lifted his arms into the sky.

"They're not for sale, I guess." Number Man muttered.

"Do not underestimate the power of money. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Lovely. My ex-Boss."

"Ms. Yuriko! It's been TOO long."

"Oh yeah? Two months is "TOO long" for you?"

Vader's hologram suddenly showed there while signaling Number Man's hologram: Higure screamed and ran into the back-store the door of which he slammed shut and some sounds insides suggested he was trying to barricade himself there.

"Be careful not to get your pants wet, Otacon." He laughed.

"What in the…" Maha cursed.

"_Oh my God_!" Count Elec gasped from the closed store-room.

"What the…?" Hinoken gasped.

"Yikes." Madoi gasped.

"So you're Twilight." Regal confronted him.

"Dr. Regal! Your "Alternate" was far luckier. Nobody questioned him 'cause he never got to engage the "Nebula" campaign: and since everyone wrote me off as KIA there… Heh!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't mind it, Mr. John Doe."

"Grhtkxh!" He uttered something undecipherable.

"By the way, Shadow Man… You got sniffed by 17 and 18 and they told me something was going on so I came over…"

"Huff. I must reek of rotting flowers."

"Don't move."

"Ah! _Daishogun_ Miyabi: to start a campaign, have you come to?"

"No. And shut your beak."

"My golden beak, you meant to say, Padawan?"

Dark Miyabi had silently come in and was aiming his _kunai_ at "Vader" from behind: he didn't bother to turn and instead he turned transparent to remind Miyabi who he was dealing with.

"Hmpf. Whatever."

"SOMEONE CALL SUPER MAN, DE MASU~!"

"I'd rather say someone call a Jedi Knight." Number Man muttered with some sarcasm.

"SOMEONE CALL MY LAWYER, DE MASU~!"

"What, you want to write your will? You're not going to die, Yamitarou."

"SOMEONE CALL MARIKO – SENSEI~! DE MASU~!"

"Someone call Commander Tuna." "Vader" chuckled.

"Please…" Maha found it stupid.

"Someone call Captain Falcon."

"Come on…" Hinoken sighed.

"Someone call Lieutenant Madonna."

"What, she's gonna dress as a lieutenant in her next concert?"

"Someone call anyone and someone." He made a rhyme.

"Rhymes alone won't help you win, Twilight."

"Kunai alone won't help you lose, Dark Miyabi. I'm off and enjoy the shrieks of cattle about to be sent to the butcher's."

He made a low chuckle before his hologram vanished: Miyabi stored the _kunai_ and was far from impressed: he folded his arms.

"Hmpf. Clown. When will you get serious and fight us like a man? I'm fed up with your own _Star Wars_ parodies."

18:28 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And this is proof that they don't scare me. The kickass we gave those guys yesterday should be enough to keep them at bay. If not… Meh! I'll use my cached Battle Chips and given them a lesson."

"I see. But you mustn't lose sight of why you fight, Rock Man."

"I know, Blood. I fight for survival and out of duty."

"Did you hear Colored Mans' crazy rhymes?"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… They were original!"

"Far from it."

"Ah. Blood. I was about to go into you guys' place…"

"Commander Omega? What's the matter, sir?"

Rock Man and Blood Shadow had been walking down an Internet City avenue when Omega met up with them.

"Blood. I need your help with something. Shadow Man is heading here along with Isaac: they could try to ambush us with more than one at the same time. Sigma stays put. Do you hear me, Sigma?"

"Roger, Commander Omega! My mirroring spell borrowed from Colored Man will drive those guys mad!"

"Hmpf. Fine. Whatever. Let's go, Blood."

"Roger. See you, Saito – kun."

"Take care."

Both walked away and Rock Man walked down one avenue towards the Coliseum while checking on other civilian Navis there and there as if making sure they were real: to prove it he played the absent-minded and bumped into one Navi.

"S-sorry. I was absent – minded. Sorry."

"Oh. Don't mind it, fella."

"T-thank you."

He resumed his walking and sighed in relief: he glanced at Netto's Operator screen and saw him nod in approval.

"Irakih Otten! Irakih Otias!" Sigma began to mirror names.

"… Amgis!" Netto countered.

"Not bad, Hikari! Now's my turn to SHINE! Wodahs Doolb! Rednammoc Agemo! Ssob! Suodav! Thgiliwt!" He laughed.

"Oh come on." Netto was finding them silly already.

A loud pitchy signal suddenly filled the air and all Navis instinctively blocked their ear-pads as the skies turned gray and Netto's screen began to be filled with static before being completely blocked off: Navis looked around in confusion.

_Netto – kun! Let me guess: you can't Plug Out._

_No! There's no signal with you. And the firewall now says that all Warp Points to Internet City are down… The backbone routes are the only thing left and you should go find them…_

_I guess Shadow Man and Isaac are converging on me anyway… And this is Atomic Network's newest show._

_Obviously. Twilight won't do anything grand until they're wiped out._

"Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah…"

"I knew it. Big mean bully. Show your _doppelganger_ hide."

"HMPF! No dry face will help you survive, Rock Man!"

"No plasma show will be enough to win, Plasma Man."

"Hah! Our Jamming Men Strategy is a great success! Nothing can come in and out of Internet City: only I can! And those mice will soon find how hard it is to handle 100,000 Viruses!"

"Heck. You've used Cache's servers to create cached copies of them."

"And this time around there's drama!"

"That's an imitation of Twilight's style."

Plasma Man's 3D image formed in front of Rock Man who wasn't surprised to face the guy again: Plasma Man chuckled and then formed a holographic screen which showed Roll standing and tied against a column somewhere while being unconscious.

"Now you use hostages? How typical of tyrants." Rock Man formed a grimace.

"Hmpf! If you want to save this little girl then you'll come here… Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

The 3D image vanished and a map dropped into the ground: Rock Man picked it and quickly got his bearings.

"Access cache… Ready Elemental Cyclone. Huh? What's this bulky program? Ah! Omega's program… Hmmm… He said it was going to be a new ace-in-the-hole so if things go awry and the cache Battle Chips aren't enough then… I could use this."

He rushed down some streets and reached a warehouse building: he pulled the door open with violence as if to prove he didn't care to step into the trap: Roll could be seen tied by the waist and below the chest to the column: Rock Man glanced around.

"Come out, you herd of morons!"

"Wild Rush!"

"Lion Head!"

"Neon Light!"

"Hruck! Gruch! I know those voices all-too-well… They never stay dead, do they?"

"Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah…"

"You shut up: Twilight's going to come to slowly and painfully kill you."

"Brag while you can! Die in front of your girlfriend!"

Rock Man got attacked at once by three opponents who obviously were Beast Man, Desert Man and Flash Man: Plasma Man (the real one) was standing behind them and taunting as Rock Man ended up crashing against the right wall and sliding to the floor in a seated position while groaning.

"Che. It had to be them: _Animal_ Man, Flash _Gordon_ and _Sand _Man." He sarcastically taunted.

"Wha~t? I'm BEAST Man!"

"I'm Flash MAN!"

"I'm DESERT Man!"

"Don't mind it! The final blow!"

"Che! I'm going for B Plan. O – Program: Execute!"

Several streams of crimson light jumped off from his chest emblem before crimson energy encompassed his body and seemed to form a new layer over its frame: a dome of transpired reddish energy formed around Rock Man as he stood up and began to blind the opponents who had to shield their sight (even Plasma Man).

"W-what in the… A new weapon? Why do they always come up with something new we can't predict? Is this the Clone Wars or WHAT?" He cursed.

"Oi! This wasn't in the plan!"

"Fuck."

"Uo~h! What's happening?"

"… Soul Unison: _OMEGA SOUL_!"

"IMPOSSIBLE~! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

"It's happening: your doom has arrived! Now… Stick out your hides: I'm going to pound each and every one of you lowlifes!"

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul" Rock Man had gained a wholly new layer of armor over his body.

His helmet got Omega's helmet overlapped with his but the ear-pads remained unchanged: the inverted pyramidal jewel on the forehead was replaced by an eight-spoke emerald and a golden line with silver edges spanned across the length of the helmet from behind the jewel to the lower rear edge of the helmet.

His shoulder-plates became vermillion and gained white circuitry patterns over them: his arms' skin became black and his forearms' armor got a new crimson layer with a golden bracelet close to the wrist: the fingers were colored black by now.

The chest got Omega's vest over it and it included the "Omega" symbol colored in white color on both sides of it: a hole had been cut on the center to expose his chest emblem.

His waist got that curious "V" piece of armor on it which formed that cavity in the front and the rear of it.

The legs became black and unadorned and the boots also got that crimson armor with a golden bracelet slightly beneath the start of them: the soils got thicker and were colored in metallic black color.

A large flock of blonde hair formed behind the helmet and reached all the way to the floor.

He lastly got the O – Saber on his right hand colored in a bright emerald color plus the holster for it over his right hip.

"Get READY!"

Rock Man dashed forward at a mad speed while leaving a trail of "afterimages" behind him and quickly swung the blade to cut Flash Man's waist from the NW to the SE: he roared and both halves got deleted: Rock Man didn't waste time and this time he cut Beast Man in four pieces before picking the remains of his core program and crushing them with his left hand: he jumped into the air and quickly cut off into eight pieces Desert Man's "crown" before splitting him vertically.

"I-impossible! It hasn't even been 55 seconds!"

"You go next, you damned WORM! HRAH!"

He built up energy on the weapon and unloaded it on Plasma Man: the energy opened wounds on his body and he howled before he hit the floor with the right foot and opened the trap-door to flee: Rock Man panted from the effort but sighed: he closed his eyes and turned off the saber to let the hilt compact into piece he stored on the sheath.

"… Relax." He muttered.

He sat cross-legged on the ground in a _yoga_ pose and began to imitate inhaling and exhaling for one or two minutes with the eyes closed before slowly articulating his fingers to touch his hands' palms: he then stood up and tore the ropes with his hands: he passed his right arm from behind Roll and under her right arm to help her walk out of the building into the main city: the skies had become blue again.

"At last! Communications came back! What happened, Saito – niisan? I suddenly felt a rush of energy and I couldn't keep the "link" with you for some reason and… HEY! Is that…?"

"Yeah! Soul Unison: Omega Soul!"

"… It's… SUPERB!" Netto exclaimed from the rush of excitement and thrill which he seemed to feel.

"Huh… Saito – kun…? What happened…? Is that you…?" Roll asked.

"Yeah. Are you alright, Roll – chan? You're not hurt, right?"

"No… _Darling_." She formed a grin.

"Oh please…" He rolled his eyes and blushed.

"Tee, heh, heh. So I got myself a shining knight who comes to rescue me, eh, _darling_? Or should I say _cutie_?" She teased next.

"Roll – chan… I thought we'd agreed to leave that behind!"

"Tee, heh, heh… I feel like it today…"

"Lovely."

"Isn't it?"

"Rock Man. You OK? Ah! It worked! It worked!"

"W-whoa! Commander Omega…! Is that the "project" you were working on ever since the summer…? Incredible, sir!"

"Ah! Omega, Blood. You managed to wipe out the Viruses?"

"Yeah. Shadow Man and Isaac took out the Jamming Men."

"What are those things, anyway?

Omega and Blood Shadow met up with Rock Man: Omega looked relieved to see it'd worked and Blood Shadow was awed.

"Oho! Wait! Rock Man! We're forgetting about the tradition! See!" Netto reminded him.

Netto's PET beeped and he inserted a blank Chip to record the Omega Soul data and then took it out: the symbol was "Omega" colored white and with bluish circuitry patterns inside of its body.

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul! _Get_!" He laughed.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Things are getting fun!"

"Well. We were investigating a location which seemed to have some "Dark Chip" cache but we were assaulted by those Viruses… It wasn't easy busting all of them even for us…" Omega sighed.

"Huh… I feel strong enough already… Thanks, Saito – kun."

"Don't mind it, Roll - chan."

"So? Who was there?"

"Big Bully, Animal Man, Flash Gordon and Sand Man."

"I'd rather say Flash Gordon's descendant!" Sigma laughed.

"Hum. The classical 3, huh? The same ones Twilight hired over a year ago."

"My ear-pads are ringing and singing! Are you talking and gossiping about me and my cool hide~? You got "Spotted! Mettool!" by 03 and 04!"

"Vader" showed up as usual to taunt them but the others regarded him with pure dull faces: Shadow Man appeared behind the guy and Isaac dropped into the area too.

"Oho." Shadow Man got amused.

"Whoa. Rock Man. We're in the "Super-Program Club" or what?"

"Why not…" He shrugged.

"Yay! Rock Man got cooler!" Trill exclaimed over Omega's radio.

"Surprising!" Iris muttered.

"Ahem, ahem. The Young Warrior-Servant has received the imprint of the Promethean through a brevet mutation." "Vader" chuckled.

"Don't spoil us." Omega grumbled.

"It's a novel, Mr. Greek Man." He taunted back.

"Whatever. Go read about the Yuuzhan Vong War."

"Hmpf."

"And tell POPSCIPLE Man that Hinoken will beat him." Nelaus taunted next over his screen.

"Did you find that Chinaman enlightening?" "Vader" sneered at Nelaus while shrugging.

"Ask Hell's Envoy."

"Hmpf! Once I get a hold on the guy's location… I myself suspect he's actually in Japan and that Oregon is a blind alley… If I let this out is because I'm interested on that guy's capture… Let's go! To Korriban we go: and let's hope Darth Krayt doesn't mind… Heh, heh, heh… _Star Wars: Legacy 28: Vector, Part 9_! It came out about 10 days ago… I'm going to read it and patiently wait for the _Legacy_ arc to develop! One Sith? Pah! I laugh at Krayt's pathetic attempts."

"So you'd rather continue the Rule of Two." Vadous muttered.

"Yeah! That guy failed but… The world is wide! There is potential even in anonymous ones scattered in some backwater nation… Heh! Soon I will gain a new ace in the hole, _kyoudai_… Let the pain hit the deck, let the fear hit the wall, let the end hit the ceiling, let the fury hit the desk, let the sorrow hit the armchair, let the joy hit the sofa!"

"You're making a silly parody of Drowning Pool's _Bodies_ and of the _MGS3: Snake Eater_ "Cobra Unit" characters." He wasn't impressed.

"Hush – Hsuh!" He made a silly rhyme next.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… I can do it better! Namtab! Nibor! Luhg la S'ar! Rekoj!" Sigma began to make his rhymes next.

"There, big black Demon… Invent the Rhyme Demon Duel Monster!" He challenged.

"Oho. Then leave it to me… I'll bring the design made through Photoshop Of Countless and Endless Edits And Mutations." Shadow Man made up one his stupid titles next.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… Snake! Contemplate! Contemplate our victory! Bang! Bang! I'm Lucky Luke: faster than my shadow! And faster than the Dalton Brothers! See ya! Tell Milverton he's got to shine more or the public will forget he exists! Heh, heh, heh!"

"Vader" finally vanished and the group sighed in relief: they heard a grumbled and saw Davis rolling his eyes and looking resigned while Charles was cursing over his line.

"We got the info, Vadous."

"Ah! Excellent. Forward it to me."

"By the way! What is a Jamming Man?" Roll asked.

"An automated Navi capable of jamming most signals and easily mass-produced… Cache designed them as part of his mad schemes to lock all Navis into the Cyber World, cut communications with their Operators…"

"…And begin slaying each other out of paranoia and mistrusting in the ensuing confusion or who was or who wasn't a "Phantom Navi" while he digitized all mobile objects and persons in the real world to grow stronger and rule it all… Right?" Rock Man finished Omega's tale.

"Yeah. Almost like a Grave-mind… Absorbing information from countless Flood-infected corpses and using it to direct their movements and tactics and ensure further spreading of the infection…"

"Yikes!" Roll gasped.

"Roll! Are you alright? What happened?" Meiru opened her screen.

"Those bad guys used me as bait to lure Rock Man to a trap, Meiru – chan, but he rescued me."

"Phew. I owe ya one, Netto."

"You don't own me anything, Meiru – chan. Friends help each other after all, don't they?"

"Huh? Wait. I got a report… There's some activity in 123 Akihara – Port Town… "Wily's Sushi"… The locale built over the secret laboratory which the "Professor" owned… Maybe "Atomic Network" is intending to establish a secondary base there or try to rescue the old "Zero Virus" to cause some chaos… Zero! Let's meet there: we need to figure out what's going on… And let's go in group. Nelaus, Hikari, Laika, Ijuuin, Miyabi, we 3, Charles and Davis… Sakurai. You did achieve "Cross Fusion" in the latest tests and managed fine, right?" Omega listed before asking.

"Sure! Netto needs someone to check on his sneaking plots, ya know."

"What sneaking plots?" Roll looked skeptical and annoyed.

"_A secret makes a girl, girl_." She giggled.

"Fine. Just focus on surviving whoever you find there. Let's leave Prism Man and the WWW Team plus Needle Man to stay watch: Yuriko can use "Cross Fusion" too so… Let's assemble there ASAP! Go!"

_We need to figure out what they're up to ASAP… Before it turns worse!_


	10. Chapter 10: Underground

**Chapter 10: Underground**

19:07 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 3rd…

"… Alright… We've been walking for about 5 minutes now…"

"Correct, Netto – kun."

"And our sensors don't pick anything: could there be something which is interfering with them?"

"It's not crazy."

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Welcome to MY trap!"

"Heck. I knew it."

"But that's not one of them so… A pawn?"

"Demon Hand!"

"Uack!"

"Gruh!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… I'm Zoan Gate Man: Falzer Army!"

"Zoanoaroids!"

"CF" Netto had been making his way through an underground corridor in a facility which was poorly lit when a large purplish claw with an arm shot from behind and gripped him: the thing turned around to reveal "Zoan" Gate Man there who seemed to be grinning (his face couldn't display a smile because he had no mouth to begin with) and feeling very cocky given how he'd ensnared them.

"I'll figure out how to resurrect Falzer – sama!"

"You guys won't be able to: you're but pawns who have been rebuilt and placed here by Atomic Network anyway." "CF" Netto shot back.

"No way!"

"Way. Area Steal!"

"Huh! Where'd he go to…?"

"Atomic Blazer!"

"Mugroha~h!"

"CF" Netto showed up again behind the guy and shot a continuous stream of scorching hot plasma: Gate Man groaned and quickly escaped by converging on a point of the space and vanishing: "CF" Netto quickly drew the Rock Buster when he saw movement further on.

"Rock Buster!"

The single shot shattered something made of glass so he walked over to the spot and realized a mirror had been built there.

"Reminds me of Beast Man's ploy at the Mirror Dome over three and half years ago…" He muttered.

"No wonder…" Saito shrugged.

"Lower you weapon, Net Savior! It's useless again the Dark Prince!"

"I wonder about that."

He cancelled the Rock Buster and quickly warped using another Area Steal: the figure gasped and tried to look around only to punched by "CF" Netto from behind using a Silver Fist Battle Chip: the figure yelped and crashed further ahead.

"Damn it! I, Zoan Dark Man, Greiga Army, won't lose so easily!"

"No wonder you called yourself "_yami no ouji_" right now… For a moment I thought it was Twilight but I don't care. Fight me and don't play with cowardly tricks, Zoanoaroid."

"Che! Dark Shadow!"

"Battle Chip, Sword Fighter! Double Slot In!"

He drew two red curved blades with a saw-like edge and took up a stance.

"Come! Zoanoroid!"

19:13 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff, huff… Close, TOO close…"

"I'm VERY close by, yeah, Mr. Gate~…"

"Ua~h!"

"And this is supposed to be a veteran?"

"Who the hell! Another Net Savior?"

"Sure. This is Nelaus and he's Isaac. Now fight us!"

"You're asking for it! Gate Cannon!"

"CF" Nelaus was confronting "Zoan" Gate Man in another corridor as he crept behind him while he was recovering from his earlier escape.

His eyes remained the same and some blonde hair popped out behind the helmet.

The helmet kept the blue coloring yet it had gained three square dots on the ear-pads and on the middle of the forehead which were colored golden, crystal and silver from left to right: a black matrix filled the rest of the helmet's surface.

The emblem remained unchanged and so did the armor protecting the base of his neck: yet, on the space below the emblem and before the waist belt (unchanged) the alphabet letters "N" and "S" colored in a platinum color had been drawn: the "N" was on the left and the "S" to the right of the vertical line splitting the body in two.

The shoulder design hadn't changed and the arms' patterns remained the same yet his forearms armor was different: the armor over the wrist was transparent purple in color and the Alphabet "N" letter colored green was set over it: the space over the palm had a black circle which contained a small red dot in the middle surrounded by different scales of red from dull red to crimson red.

The fingers had transparent red rings set on each one which glowed with a dull red glow.

His waist belt design hadn't been altered and his legs' drawings and knee guards were still the same.

His boots had slightly changed because they now had red and black matrixes across their whole surface and they included those "eyes" like in the space over the hands and set on both sides of each boot.

"Battle Chip, Met Guard!"

"CF" Nelaus formed the Met Guard and the attack of Zoan Gate Man bounced off yet he seemed to grin.

"Remote Gate!"

He opened his Remote Gate and warped to "CF" Nelaus' surprise: he began to scan around.

"Gate Soldier!"

"Gate! Gate! Gate! Gate! Gate!"

The "Gate Soldiers" flew across the air and landed on "CF" Nelaus' body to begin poking at him with the spears they had.

"Demon Hand!"

"Zoan" Gate Man gripped "CF" Nelaus and began to try to squeeze him: "CF" Nelaus grumbled.

"Salamander!"

"What!"

The Salamander's heat burnt away the claw and the arm and he arched skywards to then drop and hit the ground: "Zoan" Gate Man howled and tried to keep the heat at bay.

"Remote Gate! I'll remember this!"

"Oh! Wait! Damn. They fled. But there must be more of them…!"

"Sure thing… Let's go try to find them."

"OK! It's Zoanoroid hunting time! The hunting season has begun!"

19:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright… Who roams around here? Face Justice Man!"

"Come on, Charles… That nickname is silly."

"Did ya say something, Dave~? HAL's waiting for you in Iapetus!"

"Jeez."

"I'll pay back the chagrin by defeating you! Gate Cannon!"

"Uack! Who…? You're Zoan Gate Man!"

"CF" Charles had been calling out aloud across a corridor when Zoan Gate Man suddenly hit him from behind.

"CF" Charles' design included red boots and forearms along with brown chest armor which had a golden cross set on the middle of it: matrixes of on/off squares colored green and blue spread across his forearms and legs.

His helmet's forehead had a blue hexagon-shaped jewel set on its center which was glowing with a pale sapphire glow while his eyes' irises were blue: a mouth-guard having an outer golden edge and a main silver body formed over his mouth.

A backpack with two exhaust tubes colored silver and golden materialized and attached to his back while extending four red lines arching over his body and creating a bluish ring around the chest emblem with four small black rectangles having a red dot on their center.

He had some extra armor coiling around his right arm too and he wielded a saber identical to Omega's but colored blue instead.

"This is Nelaus! I'm battling Zoan Sword Man but Zoan Gate Man…"

"…I know: he showed up in front of my noses." "CF" Charles replied.

"If I could bet I'd say he'll flee when you deliver some serious damage given his early behavior, Charles."

"Gotcha."

"Spiral Sword!"

"Gotta cut the line… _Good luck_!"

"Hmpf! Gate Soldiers!"

"Gate! Gate! Gate! Gate! Gate!"

"Ugrack! "Union makes force", HUH?"

"CF" Charles got attacked by the "Gate Soldiers" and he quickly disposed of them before rushing for Zoan Gate Man and making his blade hum as he cut the Gate Cannon to pieces.

"No way! Remote Gate! The rest is up to YOU!"

"Face me!"

"You're Zoan Kendo Man!"

"Kendo Sword!"

"CF" Charles turned around to face Zoan Kendo Man and they locked blades: none of them seemed to yield to the other but Zoan Kendo Man began to land some blows on his hips and shoulders and into the waist as if he was trying to overwhelm him: "CF" Charles groaned.

"T-this JERK!"

"Cool it, Leo! Or Dakim will beat us using his "Dark" Entei…" Davis sighed.

"I don't care! Zan-datsu mode! Eat this, this AND THIS!"

He cut up Zoan Kendo Man's sword into pieces but he quickly formed a new one shining with a purple glow.

"My Muramasa Kendo Sword will defeat you!" He boasted.

"Heck. Atomic Network improved the guy." Davis grumbled.

"Now I'd wish to have Entei and his "daimonji" move…"

"Mwah, hah, hah… Heh, heh, heh… Now… Be gone! Net Savior!"

"Not so fast. I ain't a Net Savior. And I've got an ace up my sleeve… Go!"

19:25 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh! Our first real field mission with "Cross Fusion"… Now I'm on pair with Netto!"

"But, Meiru – chan… You lack his experiences and skill."

"I mean in ability."

"Ah. Then it's understandable."

"Heh, heh, heh… You look weak, little girl!"

"And you're the strong macho guy?"

"Zoan Gate Man's the name! I've been in many battles and survived!"

"Trying to ask me out for a date?"

"What's that?"

"Ah. Then you're really an otherworldly invader."

"Wasn't that obvious from the very start?"

"CF" Roll was giggling as she made her way across the facility when Zoan Gate Man showed up and began to boast: she made a slightly sarcastic question which he didn't seem to understand.

"CF" Roll's helmet form was pretty similar to that of Roll with the upper half being bright pink and the lower half being colored using a redder shade of pink: a white thin stripe arching like the Alphabet "V" letter marked the border: Roll's typical "buttons" on the forehead and the antennae which sprouted from it were there too.

Her main bodysuit was sleeveless and revealed the "raw" black "skin" and ended up in the form of a skirt extending past the hips: a purplish band ran down across it from the neck, surrounded the chest emblem, and ended up as an arrow aiming downwards.

Her forearms were covered in pink "skin" and gained a ring which was worn around the elbow along with a reddish dome-shaped jewel set on a vertical oval-shaped elbow-guard.

Her legs included two black round stripes starting below the hips but before the knees in each one.

The boots included a knee-guard the design of which was identical to that of the elbows: the edge of it formed a purple shade of pink arch over the toe fingers: the soils were black.

Lastly, a string of purplish/pinkish hair identical to Roll's was coming out from behind the helmet and included a green lace near the end.

"Roll Arrow!"

"CF" Roll formed the bow with the arrow and its heart-shaped tip glowed at it embedded into Zoan Gate Man's body and detonated thus opening a wound there: he grumbled and stepped back but then "CF" Roll began to attack him with her antennae and she flipped back.

"Heh! I stole some of your HP too."

"This little girl…!" He cursed.

"I'm more of a tomboy or so I say myself. Whatever. Program Advance!"

"What!"

"Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"

"Huh! Remote Gate! Last time I underestimate a little girl! YOU handle the field, sneaky guy!"

"Yesss… Zoan Snake Man will…!"

"Fire~!"

"HIISHA~H!"

"CF" Roll shot the Program Advanced just as Gate Man fled and Zoan Snake Man appeared instead drawing his two guns: the blast hit him and stunned him making him crash into the ground but he rose up annoyed and pissed off.

"Hiss! You damned woman! I'll have you regret that! Snake Arrow! Chain-shots! Snake Buster! Hah, hah, hah! Regret it dearly! Woman!"

19:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… The Abode Of A Fallen Mad Guy…"

"Stop coming up with your stupid titles."

"Ah! A _ninja_ this time around. Worth my time!"

"If it isn't Mr. Back-Gate."

"Wha~t?"

"Always running out through the back-gate, the _perfect_ escape route…"

"Damn you~…!"

"I don't think provoking them is wise."

"CF" Miyabi had started a discussion with Shadow Man over his silly titles when Zoan Gate Man showed up _again_ and this time around he sounded rather cocky.

"You go further on. I'll handle this!"

"Who…? Zoan Punk!"

"Mad Roller!"

The compact spheroid form of Zoan Punk ran into the fright and rammed into "CF" Miyabi: he growled but then got hit from above and behind: the spheroid began to bounce around like mad.

"Reminds me of Samus Aran's "Morph-Ball" technique…"

"Any weaknesses you can think of?"

"Try using a Curse Shield to stun him and then attack him: maybe that will provoke him into using his normal form…"

"Roger. Battle Chip, Curse Shield!"

The Curse Shield formed and Zoan Punk collided with it before being repelled: "CF" Miyabi leapt across the air and quickly attack.

"Sudden Strike!"

"Gruoh! Damn you!"

He resumed his normal form and looked rather pissed off by now while "CF" Miyabi merely got into a defensive trance.

"Double Go-Round!"

He shot the disks of his shoulders at him but he deflected both before he shot his right forearm claw towards "CF" Miyabi.

"Shield and Claw!"

"Hmpf."

The attack did hit "CF" Miyabi but a cloud of dust ensued and a statue of Ra's al Ghul was left behind: Zoan Punk frowned as "CF" Miyabi formed again behind him and slashed.

"How's that? By the way, Shadow Man… Didn't you have another simpler thing to leave behind as "bunshin"?"

"I felt ironic, Miyabi. Irony Man He Who Brings Irony Along And Long."

"We'll settle this later. We must make it through this guy firstly."

"Damn you! Double Go-Round!"

"CF" Miyabi leapt into the air and Zoan Punk used the window to shoot his claw again but this time around a log dropped into the ground and 10 _shuriken_ hit him from behind, their combined weight making him collapse into the ground.

"Gruach! This can't be! Damned Zoan Gate Man! He tricked me into fighting the worst kind of opponent ever!"

"Maybe. Now go back to your maker."

"Shaddup! I can't return like this to Falzer – sama! I'll destroy you lowlife yet: Shield and Chain!"

"This guy sure is stubborn… Well. If there's no other way around then…"

"Then let us Special Summon Way-maker and make a new way around…"

19:36 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I knew it. You guys were behind this show."

"Che! How did you find me?"

"You smell of fake Hugo Boss."

"W-WHA~T?"

"More like I have the ability to tell Navis apart or locate them by their data signature when they're less than 50 meters away…"

"Hmpf! Spider-sense!"

"Maybe."

"Infinite power!"

"Hmpf."

Zero was fighting Infinity Man in a catwalk crossing over a deep cylindrical shaft somewhere in the lab complex and began by taunting him but when he explained what it was Infinity Man shot back another taunt.

"This is Sigma! Zoan Gate Man ran away and I'm fighting Zoan Guts Man!"

"This is Blood Shadow. Zoan Gate Man hit and ran because Zoan Quick Man came to annoy me A LOT. I'm glad we left some defenders behind in the city just in case…" Blood Shadow grumbled.

"This is Omega. The mouse slipped away at the last second and I've got to deal with Zoan Plant Man and his damned _yaoi_ behavior. I'm about to get pissed off for real." Omega growled.

"Enzan speaking… Meijin – sama ran from the fans and I've got to deal with the bothersome Zoan Spark Man…"

"That's some irony… Anyway… Laika here… Mr. X ran for his bucks and can you guess who came next? Zoan Napalm Man! The guy's "Bestialized" and got some looks… Main color: blue. Shoulders: brown. Front weapon and rear weapon: yellow/golden… Green irises… Blackish skin… Brownish caps on the weapon arms and brown devices inside of them…"

"Hmpf. I see. Alright. You. Talk."

"Hah! Mugen Vulcan!"

"How _naïve_, really."

Zero suddenly became transparent and blurry before disappearing and forming again behind Infinity Man to hit him with the sword from behind and kick him into the ground where he kept on kicking him until he was face-up and with the blade aiming for his neck.

"Fuck you! Giga Cannon!"

"I told you already, didn't I? How _naïve_!"

Zero repeated the earlier trick and kicked the guy's neck from behind before gripping him and lifting him into the air: he jumped there and began to deliver cuts and stabs to the guy: they fell into the catwalk again and he groaned.

"Fuck! Why can't I win? If only we could use "it"…!"

"Dark Chips? Go ahead: you'll run berserk and delete each other thus doing us a favor." Zero taunted.

"Hah! We're not that idiotic!"

"You're not proving it: you've learnt NOTHING of our previous encounter on the weekend. You still hope that spawning PAs at random will help you win against a veteran and you refuse to learn or to try to think what I'd do if I were you." Zero scolded.

"Shaddup! Nobody save for Master gives me lessons!"

"Hell's Envoy?"

"Che. Spoke too much…!"

"Hum. No… They wouldn't have made it so easy to find a trail of them if they really were the guy pulling the strings… Twilight was totally impossible to locate during 2 years after the events involving Forte & Shirakami… I'd rather that guy is a human field agent instead."

"It's not crazy…" Omega agreed on it.

"Come! Accept my embrace of passion! I'll turn you into my toy and I'll play with you!"

"T-this DAMNED YAOI FREAK!"

"Bad move, Zoanoaroid… You're asking to be slaughtered."

"Heh! These guys are good stuff to test your potential! But since too many of us here could imply risks only I came! Corn Party!"

"Fine. You go down."

Zero bounced off the rounds and they focused on the middle of the catwalk which collapsed and split in two but Zero was already floating into the air: Infinity Man fell and yelled.

"Hmpf. He'll surely de-materialize before he reaches the bottom even: let's go check on the others…"

"Most have finished their battles so I sent them back…" Miyabi told him over the radio.

"The Morph Ball Imitation Went Down And Up With A Bang And A Whimper At The Same Time:" Shadow Man chanted.

"Sure, sure." Zero sighed.

"Heh, heh, heh… I drive you to the edge of insanity, eh, Zero?"

"You do, Shadow Man. Now get out! I'm going to check on Hikari just in case because I think he's gone deeper inside."

"Sure… Let's go, Miyabi. Some subtle evening breeze will welcome us once we exit this turf and abode of ambition and vanity."

"Huff. At least you saved me the capitals… Let's get out."

"GURA~H! HAH! HRA~H! HYAH!"

"Mugh! Krugh! Grkuah! Ua~ha~wa~h!"

"I said it… When you piss off Omega then you're dead Zoanoroid!"

19:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… What's on this room? There was a trail of breadcrumbs leading here as if it was important…"

"It could be a trap for all we know, Netto – kun."

"Alright. Battle Chip, Dream Aura. There, better."

"Good. Let's check it out already and get out."

"CF" Netto was waiting in front of a room's entrance: the floor had a set of breadcrumbs set there and which lead into the room: not trusting the environment he turned on a Dream Aura before entering the room: it was poorly lit but he could see that the breadcrumbs ended in front of a wooden box atop which a dish with a covering could be seen.

"Bait, huh. For me? Or someone else?"

"We can't know yet."

"CF" Netto lifted the cover and spotted that it was a dish of curry which hadn't been there for long because it was still hot and smelling: a fork, a knife and a spoon had been placed there too.

"For me." He concluded.

"Maybe one of them wanted to hit us from behind while you ate? It could be Infinity Man but given Zero's kickass…"

There was a sudden sound of something bouncing against the Dream Aura and an explosion with its flash and sound ensued: "CF" Netto whipped around to see the remains of some device attached on the ceiling and inclined to aim for him.

"Damn it. Rock Man! Was this thing aiming for…?"

"… Your neck, yeah…" He trailed off.

"A death-trap! Why so much hate at me? If there's still a Network nowadays it's thanks to you and me because we beat "Gospel" about 4 years ago… People are so selfish, really! I never asked for any reward."

"True. You just wanted things to be like they'd been before and to be able to interact with our friends without having to worry about what those guys are up to." Saito complained.

"These guys are nuts."

"Wasn't it obvious from the very start? At least Twilight wasn't allowed to kill us because of Anaya Maria's stubbornness to give up on her vain ambitions which were why she was dethroned to begin with."

"Hikari. Rock Man. What's the status?"

"Zero. Well. That thing there tried to pierce through my neck but my Dream Aura bounced it off. They underestimated me and now they've paid it dearly: I'm not an imbecile who recklessly charges in without having some defenses up."

Zero warped into the room and "CF" Netto explained the situation in a few words while shrugging.

"And as for that thing… Meh! It can stay there. I'm sure it's poisoned as well in case that machine didn't work."

"Let's bring it to the forensic lab and have it analyzed: it might yield a clue like where it comes from… But it could come from any convenience store, really." Zero muttered as he picked it up.

"By the way, Netto… Could you bring Saito along? I treat to a supper at my place tonight." Laika invited.

"Wow! Count me in. I'll call Saito – niisan and go pick him up before we head over to your place…"

"Fua~h… I need some rest myself: I've been pushing myself too much with the IPC projects… Luckily the old man isn't orbiting around me to place further pressure on me… Heck. I KNOW how to do my JOB."

"That's why I said that at least 6 hours of sleep are mandatory, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh… At least the morale is still high! OK! Let's go and not go."

"Jeez. Netto – kun. Don't start with your own jokes again!"

21:51 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Really… Laika! I knew there was a catch."

"Heh, heh, heh… So?"

"Sure. I don't mind it. You wanna go raw?"

"That's what I intended to do."

"Fine. Some raw isn't bad either… But suddenly saying after supper that you'd called Mama and asked her to allow us to stay here… And that you only had one bed and the sofa which Saito – niisan is using…"

"I'm sneaky, yeah…"

Netto stepped into Laika's apartment bedroom where there was a single bed and a pair of chairs close by: Laika closed the door and Netto and he began chatting as they undressed: they folded their clothes and placed them on the chairs.

"And now Saito – niisan headed into your PET to have raw with Search Man… Heh! We needed some variety… We've never grown bored of doing it with Tooru – kun but I thought you or Enzan would like to take part one day too…" Netto grinned.

"I'd been doing it with some of the bunk-mates for the last 2 years as well: but I guess it'll be more exciting with you."

Both climbed into the bed and Netto calmly spread his legs while using his hands to lean on the bed as he placed them towards the back: Laika rubbed his cock and pulled Netto's legs towards him to tease his ass' entrance with the head.

"I'm going to tease you." He grinned.

"Go ahead, _Hauptmann_."

"Oh come on. I've only risen to Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant Laika – sama~?"

"Please… I want to disconnect from all the stuff back home."

"Alright. Go ahead."

Laika began to thrust inside until he was fully inside and he began to pump in and out while Netto calmly rubbed his own cock with the right hand and rubbed his left nipple with the left hand: he looked distracted and Laika looked like he was getting excited.

"Yeah… This excitement… I missed it!"

"Missing Guy came over?"

"Heh. Shadow Man's been passing you some of his jokes, eh?"

"Sure, Akial!"

"Please… Sounds so weird…"

"Huff! I think I'm about to release. I'm fast."

"Sure are… Let it come out already!"

Netto released and stained the area around his cock so his muscles tightened around Laika's cock and he released as well: Laika then began to lick his nipples and Netto calmly looked on: Laika then sat on his knees right below the face so Netto simply rubbed Laika's cock with the right hand and took it into his mouth: Laika began to set a pace while Netto simply rubbed his own cock again with the left hand while he used the right to pinch his right nipple: Laika released followed by Netto and they then began a passionate kiss.

"Heh. You're not half-bad, Laika… I wanna try ya out…"

"Of course. Go ahead, _cool guy_…"

Netto got into position and began to pump into Laika as he placed both hands behind his head and simply looked on with a grin: Netto picked Laika's cock with the right hand and began to rub it at the same time: he made Laika release and he released next.

"Your insides felt good… I want more!"

Grinning, Laika pulled the covers over him and Netto and they continued…

21:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… Ah! I missed this pose, Search Man…"

"Heh. So you say, Rock Man."

"Please… When we're alone then you can just call me Saito."

"My bad. I agree that it sounds more personal."

"It's not that it sounds personal: it's my true name."

Saito was riding on Search Man's cock and facing forward as Search Man remained face-up on a bed inside of his PET: he'd taken off the helmet and armor to look more natural and he was using his right arm because he'd disabled the gun.

"I'm surprised at one thing…"

"What?"

"Twilight didn't show up to taunt or spoil today… Maybe it's a sign that the guy was up to something else?"

"Could be… But let's not worry about that. Let's leave them to go read DC Comics. I'm surprised at Shadow Man's irony of using that statue as _bunshin_… Then he told me Ra's al Ghul commands an army of _ninja_ assassins so he thought it'd be fitting with him. In the end Zoan Gate Man escaped us and must be roaming somewhere else… They're not much of a worry given their damage levels and their cowardice…" Search Man calmly replied.

"Huh! I guess I'm about to release… Heh, heh, heh."

"Then let it out, Saito." Search Man invited.

Saito released and his release tightened Search Man's cock so he released as well: Search Man sat up and calmly began to move Saito up and down his length again while exploring his body as he climbed up its height: he reached the nipples and began to softly play with them.

"Yes… Like that, Search Man… Oh… It feels good, very good…!"

"Heh. I like that tune already."

"S-sure… I get very excited at this… Guess I'm more perverted than Netto – kun or Tooru – kun to begin with…" He made a weak giggle and rolled his eyes as well.

"Somehow… That doesn't surprise me too much."

"I guess it doesn't… Ah… I've always liked to sit on Tooru – kun's cock and feel it going inside of me… Netto – kun would give me blowjobs too to make the threesomes more varied… But you feel good, too, Search Man, so pump into me all you want… I needed this to shake off the built up stress of these 6 days… It seems so long ago that all began… But if we pound them like this then… An end may soon come."

"Don't think in gloomy things, Saito. Tonight we just relax and disconnect altogether…"

"OK, Green Guy."

"Please… A Green Lantern parody?" He rolled his eyes.

"Heh, heh, heh… I can make up randomness when I feel like it too and I'm not so strict with myself…"

"You're interesting when outside of battle… But you do seem to have used my lessons of the "Control X" day as basis for your evolution over time and your serious stance in battle in which nothing impresses you…"

"I know: I want to prove to those guys that they're making a mistake in judging me by my age and height and all… But they don't bother to see that I evolve, I grow… Thanks to everyone's support…"

"Do you think Guts Man will ever level up?"

"Huff. If only Dekao – kun bothered to figure out how to do a proper strategy… He's got the potential, I mean… He did try to fight Burner Man but his attacks didn't make much damage… But let's save the gloomy talk for another day… I want to change poses… Like this!"

He got face-up and Search Man pulled the covers over them…

23:09 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Ah! Our usual customer… Dr. T."

"Here's the pay… Plus your bonus… Did you allocate for my favorite one like always?"

"Of course, Dr. T. All's ready. No one will bother you in the following 2 hours from now."

"Excellent."

A man stepped into the hall of a building somewhere.

This man could be about a meter and eighty tall or a bit taller.

He wore a black overcoat worn over a black suit, a white shirt, a black tie and black pants plus brown shoes.

He also sported a hat with a brown band circling it.

His hair was blonde and neatly combed and his eyes' irises were green emerald.

He carried a metallic attaché case plus a blue backpack: he left the attaché case atop a table and opened it to reveal stacked bundles of bank notes: another man sitting on an armchair behind the table grinned.

"Yesssir… All's in order… Thank you for hiring our services."

"You've remembered my instructions, right?"

"But of course: all has been done according to them."

"Perfect."

The man, Dr. T, climbed up a stone stair into the first floor where there were four doors: three of them were locked and muffled sounds rang out from inside while the SW one was ajar.

"Heh, heh, heh…"

He opened the door and stepped into a small bedroom which had a bare bed with metal railings and a chair.

"Good evening."

There was a young man lying face-up on the bed who could be slightly over a meter and sixty.

His hair was jet black but his eyes were covered by a blindfold.

He had some leather bands on his body: they formed a pyramidal shape with a stripe splitting them in half: another two bands arched over his shoulders and connected with the band circling his upper body.

He also had a thick leather collar where the apex of the "pyramid" was attached at plus a chain connected to the north railings.

His legs had been spread wide using a metallic bar connected to his ankles using leather bracelets plus a pair of chains connecting to the southern railings as well.

His arms had also been spread and each had a pair of handcuffs connecting to the northern railings.

He had a white plastic spheroid with some holes on it placed over his mouth: a leather band circled around his head to keep it on place.

His cock's base had a round leather band into which another three placed south, west and east spread and tightened his balls.

"Heh, heh, heh… Yeah… These guys are pros… Let's get down to business: my new agent will be busy collecting info in the meanwhile about what happened in the lab…"

He took off the coat and the hat and left the backpack on the ground: he opened it and took out several items.

"This goes first."

He took out a string of purple plastic beads with a small circle atop them wide enough to stuff the middle finger on it: he leant over the boy and opened his urethra to then begin stuffing that inside: the boy arched from the sensation while he calmly finished stuffing them in.

"Next is… This."

He took out a small bell-shaped pink-colored plastic shape with a cable linked to what seemed to be a remote with a lever: it was currently on "OFF" mode: he placed the bell on the cock's head and then strapped the remote into his right hip with cello-tape.

"There's more to come!"

The next item he drew was a black leather penis with a cylindrical metallic white base having a switch: he stuffed it into the boy's insides and he arched again: he began to try to pull at the chains as if trying to escape but had to give up: he seemed to be sweating out of fear.

"Yeah… Terror and fear will rule the body! Next!"

He drew a string of white round plastic beads with a large ring on their end: each one was connected to the other via a small string: he began to slowly stuff some of them inside and left half of them out.

"The final details…"

He took out a remote with four cables containing pink-colored capsule-shaped objects: he attached them with cello-tape above and below his nipples and strapped the remote into the left hip.

"Heh, heh, heh… And with this…"

He drew two clothes pegs made of green plastic and connected by a string which he clipped to his nipples.

"_Finito_." He grinned.

He gripped the boy's jaw and applied some pressure there before he activated the left remote to "MAX": the capsules began to vibrate in a very quick manner and the boy arched.

"This is but the _hours d'ouevre_… Let's move on into the _main dish_."

He turned on the right controlled to "MAX" as well and his cock began to dance and bulge.

"Let this sensation of powerlessness be engraved in your flesh! You live just to be a tool to others' pleasure. You're but a toy."

Grinning, he turned on the last vibrator and watched how his spasms became violent and how he unwillingly began to suck in the anal beads as well.

"Heh. This one is good… I've been coming here for 2 weeks already… And while _kyoudai_ and the others worry about that herd of clowns… I'm securing something important… Something amusing… Something necessary… Heh, heh, heh… If only you knew!"

He watched how the boy struggled and agonized before he opened his jeans' fly and took out his hardened cock: he took off the ball-gag but then stuffed his cock into his mouth and pulled up the head from behind to force him to go to his pace.

"Heh, heh, heh... IQ – sama was right in saying I should try it out: no wonder Her Grace built Their empire upon this… It's excellent! _Kyoudai_ and the others are too soft. Hah!"

He released and replaced the spheroid before he headed to the chair and calmly sat there while he drew an iPhone 3G which he interacted with to make a call.

"You did splendidly." He told someone.

"Thank you, Master." Someone replied using a voice distorter.

"They'll be searching that whole turf in vain… Heh, heh, heh… You'll receive the reports of the Legion 64 and study them: if you find anything important regarding "Hell's Envoy" then mail to me and write "URGENT" into the "subject" field…" He instructed.

"Roger, Master."

"That'll be all."

He finished the call and pocketed the iPhone before he headed over the boy and gripped his balls.

"Well? Do you submit? Do you beg…?"

He nodded his head up and down with strength.

"Good enough… Heh, heh, heh…"

He gripped the bell vibrator plus the ring at the start of the beads inside of his cock and quickly pulled both of them out while loosening the bands around his balls and the base of his cock: the boy arched his body and released several spurts around his lower body before dropping his body into the bed and tilting his head right: it could be seen that he had drooled a lot and he seemingly was unconscious.

"That trick doesn't work on me. You actually are a masochist who volunteered to come here… You wanted to break away from that father of yours who was a drunkard and would beat you for no reason… You struck a deal with the owner… Heh, heh, heh…"

He took off the ball-gag and the blindfold: the boy's eyes were emerald green and he looked slightly amused.

"Well. Yeah. Mr. T. I dunno how you figured out but that's the truth." He admitted with a shrug.

"Heh! I have contacts and some "convincing" of my own had the owner spill the beans… I know these folk… Easily satisfied with something so vain like money… Hmpf… Anyway… You've thought about my suggestion, Philip?"

"Of course. Wasn't my answer obvious?"

"Fair enough. Tomorrow meet me at this address and we'll start working on the project… The "Dark Side" project… Remember: if you have to call me then name me "Court of Owls" and you name yourself "Talon" just in case… I know only police can intercept phone calls' contents given the powerful encryption method used by wireless calls…" He instructed to Phillip.

"Roger."

Dr. T. opened a cupboard where some clothes (a sleeveless red shirt, a pair of black boxers, a pair of shorts and a pair of white socks) were folded and piled: he inserted a piece of folded paper into the right shorts' pocket and closed the doors.

VROA~R!

CRASH!

"What in the… Huh! Don't shoot! HUH? Paint-bullets? OUWAH!"

"Wasn't that the owner?" Phillip wondered.

"And that's a 150cc bike if my hearing doesn't fail me. Bike? Aha-hah! The summer biker guy… Isn't this interesting!"

The scandal got louder and they heard the bike actually running up the stairs before parking with a screech: the door was kicked open.

"Mr. Biker! Welcome to the party, my dear."

"You're… Yoru Yami… No! Twilight!"

The biker happened to be a guy about a meter and sixty or maybe slightly taller.

He was wearing a reddish sleeveless vest which was open over a black t-shirt plus jeans and sneakers.

They also had a black motorbike helmet with a blood-red-painted simplistic eye drawing.

Their PET was colored red and orange and had that same drawing as the emblem but the Navi was not projecting.

He sported a sub-machinegun on his right hand which he was aiming at Yoru Yami or, rather, Twilight.

"You lowlife!" The biker cursed.

"My. What manners, Wiggins."

"Wiggins? I dunno who that is. Step asides from him."

"Don't you have the other rooms to care about?"

"The cops are on their way here: I called them."

"So? Who's the guy providing you with Dimensional Converters?"

"Priest – sama would be the name, ugly."

"I'm uglier than Sauron: I knew that, Mr. Smith."

"What are you up to?"

"Dunno. Maybe telling Milverton his great-great-grandfather's ghost will come haunt him each _Mitternacht_."

"You're weird."

"I knew that. I'm a freak: just like Liquid Ocelot. As he said… "We're freaks which should've never existed!"…" He quoted.

The sound of police car sirens rang out: Twilight shrugged and calmly picked his coat and hat which he put on before making his fingers get into a gun shape and he swung them up and down slightly as if taunting the biker.

"Good _sense_."

"Stop acting like Liquid Ocelot: what are you up to?"

"Have you met my new carrier boy?"

"Who…?"

"Demon Hand!"

The Demon Hand suddenly formed behind him and gripped him: he grumbled and spotted Zoan Gate Man.

"I thought he'd been deleted in the lab battles!"

"Nope. I programmed him to run and become my new carrier boy." He sneered.

"Che! _Partner_! Come out and do something!"

A bulky standard Security Navi being as tall as the corridor formed and Zoan Gate Man seemed to lose his guts when seeing their mole looming over them.

"So! You wanna be squished!"

"N-nope! W-wrong guy! I'm outta here~! Remote Gate!"

He opened the Remote Gate, cancelled the Demon Hand, and ran inside like he was gonna be slaughtered alive: the gate warped and Twilight shrugged.

"Maybe I should've programmed a bit more of guts… But then Guts Man would say I stole them."

"Like the guy would care… Huh!" The biker gasped.

"Oh? So you know them pretty well, you mean to say? You must be their Number One Non-Fan!"

"Non-Fan? Patent it!" He grumbled.

"When I feel like it, Mr. Smith."

"Che! My codename is "Past"! Stop with that of "Mr. Smith"!"

"Past? _Kako_? So there's something in your past which you despise yet it's the reason why you've come here… You… You've been in the living _Naraku_, haven't you? Heh, heh, heh… And "Priest" must be some game of _kyoudai_ to play Bruce Wayne. Heh, heh, heh…"

"_Kyoudai_? That Vadous guy? Well, maybe. But that doesn't concern you: get out before my Navi gives you a lesson."

"Sure, sure. Anyway… _It's raining, man_!"

"What was that about?"

"Dunno. Ask John Lennon."

"What does the founder of the Beatles have to do with this? He died in 1980!" "Past" complained next.

"Hmmm… I think Mr. Smith is calling… He wants his bike back…"

"Not like I stole it."

"Who knows, Mr. Tsap?" He grinned at him.

"This guy is making me feel fed up: he's worse than Sigma!"

"There: you're Sigma's Number One Anti-Fan!"

"Anti-Fan now? When will you stop coming up with silly names?"

The police sirens grew louder and the sound of several cars stopping could be heard: Twilight merely snapped his right hand's fingers and a "Dimensional Converter" emerged from the ground: it ignited and formed the white shaft of light.

"_Auf Wiedersehen, Herr John Doe_!"

He got warped out and "Past" quickly ran out: Phillip (who'd feigned being unconscious) opened his right eye slightly and heard him kick the other rooms' doors open and fire his paint-bullets: THUD sounds rang out as well while he heard several voices on the ground floor.

_Better play unconscious or the deal with Mr. Twilight will be exposed: I can't let that happen._

"Alright. Let's get out through that window… Shatter it!" He heard "Past" tell his Navi.

"This disguise is bulky but can't be helped…"

DZING!

VROA~R!

The bike apparently jumped out through the 2nd floor window while Phillip closed his eyes: he heard some policemen rush into the room and begin to undo the bindings.

_Play along… Don't move… Don't do anything… Soon… I'll gain power and become above those fools… _

"Hey! Isn't this guy the secretary to the Finances Minister?"

"By all the… And here's the aide of the minister!"

"And the Minister himself! What a scandal there'll be!"

_By all the… Our own Finances Minister spends the evenings going into this place and abusing of others? They should hang the guy! Che!_

22:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Boss. I've got a report dispatched by Chief Lezareno from Melbourne: Twilight was there!"

"Melbourne! I dunno why he'd go there."

"A club."

"DAMN IT!"

"I know."

"I knew it: Maria's told the guy to become an S&M sadist too!"

Omega rushed into the Cyber World of the Subspace HQ which contained a central round plaza with several locked doorways around it and a central spinning 3D image of Earth: a small red dot had an orbit drawn around it and the globe spun as well.

"And our summer biker showed up too: a security camera in the corridor spotted them… Their codename is "Past" and they work for someone named "Priest"… Twilight thought that was you, Boss."

"Well. It wasn't crazy to think that but he got the wrong guy."

"We've got imagery of the Navi but I think he's got a disguise on to hide his real looks which could help ID him… Yet the camera was able to pick that he knew about Guts Man and Sigma… Maybe he's been doing some research from afar or looked up the Internet City Coliseum battles' records too…" Omega described.

"Hum. Well. If that guy wants to chase S&M clubs then let them be: they're doing us and the police a favor so…"

"Roger."

"Don't mind any further appearances of the guy."

"Ah! I was forgetting. Zoan Gate Man is now Twilight's "carrier boy" and works for him… Hence why we didn't find him on the lab…"

"Lovely."

"But he's rather cowardly so…"

"Ah. Yeah. That could do: let Sigma loom over the guy and he'll run out like he was gonna be slaughtered alive…"

"Did you find anything new on the data Davis got from the "Deadly Pandora" servers?"

"Well. I'm checking the email storage server and looking over all mails which Jade got regarding customers or internal matters… I'm thinking that there's a clue as to why they did something like taking over the DNN Studios there… Maria insists Jade came up with the idea and Jade keeps on boasting it was brilliant but I suspect there's something behind that: do you see where I'm getting at, Omega?"

"Hum. "Atomic Network" tricked them into doing that knowing it'd bring upon their "sky-fall" and they'd be able to rise."

"Correct. But I'm still trying to find solid evidence."

"Good. But don't push it too much, either, Boss. If you feel tired Kir Osh can come and continue the job too."

"You're right. I'll take another 5 minutes and then go lie… Tomorrow will be the 7th day ever since this madness began."

"And we're no closer to figuring out the whereabouts of "Hell's Envoy" either… They could be hiding in some hut out there and not using any gadgets… They could go to a village and use a public phone booth too so as to not to leave any trails… I got some info that he's being searched by the NSA too…"

"The NSA's looking for the guy? Why?"

"According to what Ms. Argad got out of her buddy Ms. Secreta it's because he leaked info about the existence of the TRANSLTR super-computer and they wanted to figure out how he got it…"

"I'm going to call it quits for the night… Long days ahead of us…"

"Yeah, Boss… This isn't over yet… Will it ever end? We can't know it yet…"


	11. Chapter 11: Between Life and Death

**Chapter 11: Between Life and Death**

10:40 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 4th…

"… That Earth Rock Man guy was LAME!"

"Sure… Why didn't they name them "Soil Man" to begin with?"

"Dunno, Laika."

"Heh! Let them show off in vain."

"That tune sounds weird coming from ya, Saito – niisan."

"Who knows, Netto – kun?"

"Oh. I do. I know that Arcane Pigeon Man came."

"Shadow Man. Stop fooling around."

"I see no point on that, Blues."

"Join the club, Search Man."

"Hum. Mr. Vadous should be about to come… He said he'd seized some important info…"

"Where's Misaki – kun, sir?"

"I sent him with a team to have another look at the lab and see if we locate the missing "Zoanoroid"…"

"Knowing the guy he's a thousand miles from there by now…"

Netto, Saito, Enzan, Laika and Miyabi had come to a Net Police meeting in the Net Police HQ and were chatting to pass the time while Kifune rubbed his chin: Manabe asked about Misaki and Blood Shadow muttered his opinion.

"Bloody~ Shadowy~! Nam Etag is going to haunt your dreams with his Nomed Dnah and his Etomer Etag plus the Etag Nonnca!" Sigma began to mirror words.

"Jeez. Go tuna." Blood Shadow tried to shoo him away.

"Go arcane mackerel." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Please…" He found it silly.

"Shadow Man… I think your past self was better."

"Maybe you need me to invoke my past self? Listen up! "…Heh, heh, heh…! Heh, heh, heh! I've finally found you, Knight Man! No… Anti-Virus Program…!" "That guy…"… "Shadow Man!"… "Shadow Man?" "A bad Navi hired by "Gospel"!"… "I know it, Knight Man. That you yourself are the Anti-Virus Program itself, see…" … "Grrr!" … "My bad. But I'll have to delete you."… "If you want to do it then go for it!"… "I won't let ya do such a thing, Shadow Man!"… "I'll confront you two later. Hrah!"… "Netto!" … "Stay there for a while."… "How dare you attack Netto – kun!" … "Hra~h!"… "Heh, heh, heh! heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Knight Man! These guys are your opponents! Inferior! Middle! Superior! Shadow _ninpou_: combine!"... "That's…! Knight Man!"… Well?"

"Oh come on. You had to bring up that time almost 4 years ago when you tried to delete Knight Man. And getting trapped into that spheroid thing wasn't funny: I could've run out of air!" Netto grumbled.

"Since Miyabi was so eager to know my past self…"

"I didn't mean that and you know it."

"Unless you turn more specific… "Hmpf! You're not my foe, after all."… "Time for deletion."… "What!"… "Rock Man! Heat Guts!" … "Rock Man! Use this! Royalty King Heat Guts Buster!"… "Hruh! But next time things will be different!"… Had enough?"

"More than enough."

"Enough Guy came to say Enough Not Enough."

"Even I find that silly." Sigma didn't find it funny anymore.

"Join the club." Blues invited.

"I get the sarcasm, yeah, Blues."

"Really… What need was there for that?" Kifune sighed.

"You never know. Someone might reuse and old trick."

"Style Change, you mean? It got overwritten by Cross Fusion over 3 and half years ago and Soul Unison is way better: Style Change was too random and there was no way of predicting when it'd engage." Netto rolled his eyes.

"I think Rock Man didn't find it practical either." Saito muttered.

"Excuse me for the delay! I overslept!"

Vadous came into the room in a rush while carrying a printed paper on his right hand and looking out of breath: he sat on his seat and drank some of the water served in a cup: he sighed.

"I stayed up late because Omega brought me some news… But this goes first: it's a very important thing."

He placed the paper on the table and Kifune read it: he lifted his eyebrows along with Manabe before pushing it forward so that the others could read it as well.

"An email printout? "From sapphire-DP-org to jade-panther-DP-org. Subject: Grand Scheme! Text: Jade! I just had a brilliant idea. What if we took over the DNN Studios and filled all systems linked to it with "Noise" bursts to disable all devices? We could make a great show there and even if the Net Saviors come in Dr. Yoru's Navis will beat 'em. But I'm too shy to give out this idea to the other so why don't you say it was yours instead? Then it'd get approved. Of course: if you see flaws with that thing you can tell me to send it to the recycling bin. I'm waiting for your response. Sapphire Kraken… Saturday July the 26th, 2008, 22:22:22 PM (Honolulu Time)." … Oh!" Saito realized.

"I see! This mail was forged by Atomic Network to lure them into taking over the DNN Studios and causing their "sky-fall"!" Miyabi realized next while looking surprised.

"The time stamp: I find it too coincidental. I'm sure it was automatically delivered without Navi intervention and it happened to reach Jade's inbox at that moment…" Enzan muttered.

"And it precipitated everything…"

"Say! Where's Nelaus?" Netto suddenly asked.

"He volunteered to help Misaki – kun search the lab."

"Ah! Well. We should tell them this: maybe he remembers some detail about Jade's behavior which indicates when he began to prepare for the DNN Studios take-over." Saito suggested.

"It's a good point." Vadous admitted.

"Boss. Next is…" Omega whispered.

"Yes, I know. Yesterday evening, in Melbourne… Twilight was spotted."

"Melbourne? That's Australia's capital city, right?" Netto recalled.

"I once went there for some business 2 years ago…" Enzan admitted.

"The ribs were too deliciously juicy for your taste, Enzan?" Laika joked.

"Hum. And let me guess: he was in one of "those"." Miyabi guessed.

"Correct. But that's not all… Netto – kun. Do you remember about that mysterious biker who helped your friend Hikawa – kun back in the summer?" Vadous brought up.

"Ah! Yeah… Wait! He was there, in Melbourne?"

"He raided the place where Twilight was at and they had some confrontation… A corridor CCTV camera caught some of it and the rest we got from a recorder hidden in the room yet it'd seem Twilight edited it before we could find it because there are some earlier patches missing altogether… It'd seem someone named "Priest" has hired him and given him the codename "Past"… Twilight suspected that he'd gone through something similar in the past and that's why he chased those creeps: his Navi happened to be a bulky Security Navi but it'd seem it was a disguise to hide their true looks…" Vadous exposed.

"Disguised as a bulky Security Navi… Maybe they're bulky too?"

"Oh. Good point, Saito – kun. I hadn't thought of that one."

"So… What should we do regarding them?"

"Not mind them: they're helping the police so…"

"Ah! One last thing. You won't find Zoan Gate Man in the lab: Twilight hired him to be his "carrier boy" and he works alongside him yet he keeps on being a coward… I spotted him lurking by the Virus Factory remains and talking to 14 Mettools." Omega added.

"Then I should recall the investigation team."

"You should recall the non-investigation anti-team." Shadow Man joked on the spot.

"Oh. Stay quiet." Miyabi grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Well. I'll be going: don't be surprised if Twilight starts showing up again to taunt us… We need to resume investigation on "Hell's Envoy" because they're the only solid thread we have. Good morning."

"So! Enzan. What's your diet? Pancakes and Pepsi?"

"Oh come on. It's not like I gotta eat military rations each day."

"I don't see why Laika – sama has to bring this up." Search Man muttered.

"He likes testing Enzan – sama, I think." Blues muttered.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Nazne – amas is annoyed."

"What in the… That sounds SO weird!" Enzan cursed.

"Beware! The Arcane Pancake will fly into your office through the windows and curse you to dream of pancakes!"

"Shut – up." Miyabi hissed.

"The city goes mad AGAIN?" Saito sighed.

"And here I thought it was the summer heat…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"Oh boy…" Blood Shadow sighed.

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hikari – hakase? He's on a meeting."

"Ah. Then we'll wait here."

"No problem… I think it ends in 10 minutes… And if you see Meijin please tell him I'm looking for him. I'm Rondo."

"We understand."

"Sure thin', Odnor – onod!"

"W-what was THAT?"

"Jeez. Sigma."

Sigma pulled a joke on a Science Labs researcher once Netto and Saito asked him about Yuuichirou: Blood Shadow seemingly rolled his eyes under the shades.

"Don't mind him, sir." Saito politely told him.

"Guess he's the prankster type…"

The scientist, Rondo, headed out of the hall while they both sat on a bench nearby: Netto began to read a _tankobon_ while Saito checked something through his PET's holographic screen.

"Ugra~h! It's a Brazilian Wandering Spider! Ru~n!"

Rondo ran out like he was going to be slaughtered alive and a giggle rang out from one of the rooms.

"Rondo! Ya fell for the oldest trick on the book: an empty box with a photo of a spider atop it!" Someone muttered aloud.

"Oson! What's this about?"

"Oh. Kanea. Did you see Rondo's face? Priceless."

"Jeez! What happened to the research on firewalls?"

"That can wait."

"It can't wait! It has to be completed by next Sunday!"

"What! Next Sunday? I thought we had until December!"

"Then you read it or heard it wrong! This ain't a playground! Get to work or go work as cleanser! Move it!"

"The staff's gotten weird too." Netto muttered.

"The October wind, I guess." Saito sighed.

"Maybe…" Blood Shadow looked defeated.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… What a club!"

"What happened with Rondo?"

"Oh! Meijin. Well, Oson here did THAT."

"A Brazilian Wandering Spider? Wait! The box it's too light: it's empty to begin with! You tricked him?"

"Sure. His face and yell were priceless, Meijin!"

"GRHXHXJ! GET BACK TO WORK!"

Meijin came out of a nearby lab while looking exasperated.

"Huh? Ah! Netto – kun and Saito – kun."

"Good morning, Meijin – san!"

"… _San wa iranai_… Could you give me a hand? We've got some old stuff we'd want to take to the junkman's but everyone's SO busy that they can't lend me a hand to load the truck… Ah! And Hikari – hakase wanted to do a backup of your PET software too."

"Alright. We don't mind, Meijin – san."

"It's on the garage, right?" Saito guessed.

"Yeah. Can you give me the PETs and I'll bring them to Hikari – hakase's lab?" He asked.

"OK!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… Irakih – esakah's lab…"

"Shut up already."

Meijin headed to the lab and returned soon enough: they followed him into the garage where there was a truck with some boxes pending loading: both picked one and managed to load it up: they continued like that with Meijin sometimes switching for Netto or Saito until all of the boxes had been loaded up..

"Oh! By all the… Saito – kun! I forgot the ID card to open the shutter: could you go fetch it? I think it's on the Cross Fusion lab."

"The Cross Fusion lab? OK! I'll be back on a breeze."

Saito headed out while Netto and Meijin loaded the last box: Netto blew his hands to cool them but didn't spot Meijin picking a steel rod hidden besides a box and lifting it up: he silently brought it down into Netto's head from behind and knocked him out.

"Ouwah!"

He quickly jumped off the loading area and closed the doors before climbing into the truck's cockpit and turning it on: he took out a remote from a compartment and opened the shutter: the truck rolled out and he spotted a discrete blue Honda parked nearby with two passengers onboard: the passengers looked there.

"It's Mr. Meijin taking out stuff…" The driver told the partner.

"Colonel Talos was coming to check with us, right, Mori?"

"Correct."

The truck soon became out of sight and a green Opel parked nearby: the driver stepped down and headed for the Honda.

"Comrades."

"Colonel Talos, sir!"

"You may rest."

"Roger, sir."

Colonel Talos looked as being on his late forties.

His hair was grey and parts of it fell down in the front of the face and he seemed to be missing his left eye as well.

He was dressed in a grey army uniform, although the area around the sleeves and neck was colored in a reddish patch.

He had a distinction on the right side of the uniform just underneath the right shoulder.

He sported tall black boots too.

"Anything new, Agent Karasu?"

"No, sir. We just Mr. Meijin drive a truck out."

"Do we have any news on the enemy, sir?"

"No, Agent Mori… We've yet to see their next ploy."

"… Meijin – san! Where are you? I brought the ID card! HUH? Where's the truck at? Netto – kun? Are you pulling a joke? Hello~?"

"Huh? What's going on?"

Colonel Talos ran towards the open garage to see Saito looking around, obviously confused, while carrying an ID card on his right hand: he was worried by now.

"Mr. Hikari Sr.?"

"Ah! Colonel Talos, sir… I'm looking for Meijin – san and Netto – kun: they'd finished loading the boxes and Meijin – san told me to go fetch his ID card but… The truck's gone!"

"Agents Mori and Karasu say they saw it come out."

"But then why did he ask for the ID card? He said he needed it to come out of the garage."

"By all the… The enemy!"

"No way! That was Atomic Network? They tricked us! The whole "backup" deal was a ploy to leave our PETs behind and the ID card thing… He purposely picked the Cross Fusion lab because it takes at least 10 minutes to do the round trip!" Saito realized.

"Fetch your PETs and I'll contact Mr. Sponsor! It hasn't even been 5 minutes and such a big truck can't go unnoticed for long: he must switch vehicles… We'll set up speed traps and watch secondary roads: his nanomachines' GPS must still be working because they can't have gotten into any tunnel yet!" Colonel Talos commanded.

"Roger!"

Saito ran out while Colonel Talos seemingly cursed under his breath in Russian as he drew his iPhone 3G.

"Mr. Sponsor!"

"What happened, Colonel Talos?"

"The enemy! They've got Mr. Hikari Jr.! I'll explain the deal later: we need to zero on his GPS transmitter because there aren't underground spots around here. Let's hope they don't know about it."

"I'm turning it on… What about Saito and Sigma and Blood?"

"They're alright. They're with me."

"Phew. You must tell me how they managed to pull it off despite the fail-safes… It couldn't have been a "DC" because the PETs can emit a disabling signal which works on all kinds of models."

"No. It's a truck but I suspect they'll switch vehicles around."

"Alright. They're moving at a speed matching a truck's and SSE from here, about 9 kilometers away… I'm going to figure out what's nearby that can serve as hideout. Some hut, I guess."

"Good. I'm going to pick them and we'll get on the move."

"Like we'd let them get away with it…! We'll lock them using a "Dimensional Area" and I'll send the Three Musketeers there!"

11:51 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ugh… O~w… My head! It aches! What happened? Where am I? By all the… You're not gonna tell they kidnapped me!"

Netto slowly began to regain consciousness and felt how the back of his head ached: he tried to sit up but hit his head against a cover or something like that so he fell back into face-up pose: the space he was in was very cramped and felt both cold and metallic.

"What in the… A metallic box?"

He suddenly frowned and despite the almost inexistent lighting he managed to see that he was naked.

"Heck. These guys are perverts or what?"

He suddenly noticed some air blowing into his neck from behind and managed to extend his right hand north to touch.

"There are two holes here… Pretty deep… Air is blowing through them but I dunno what it is for… Maybe to make sure I won't run out of air…? Huh? I hear another noise… That noise…?"

He suddenly felt a hot liquid seeping out of the holes and starting to spread across the insides of the box: he gasped and began to try to pull the cover up.

"Don't kid me! You can't intend to drown me here! Oi! Open up! I demand to know what this is about!"

A slit over his eyes suddenly opened and he had to close his eyes to give them time to get used to the new lighting: he spotted a bandaged face looking towards him with holes cut to show the eyes and the mouth: they looked smug.

"You're… "Hell's Envoy"!"

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… The neutrinos and positrons are gonna crawl into ya body and soon ya will be no more!" The man taunted in accented English.

"Don't screw me! Open this up!" Netto yelled back in Japanese.

"Heh, heh, heh… You die!"

The face vanished although the slit remained open: Netto began to punch at it but it didn't seem to break.

"Damn! It's not glass!"

He tried to arch his body backwards and hit the slit with his head but he got bounced off and he hit the ground with a THUD sound.

"Grah! It's too thick and hard! Damn it! The liquid's climbed about half of the volume by now… I don't have much longer! I gotta break it up somehow!"

He tried to repeatedly punch it but it did no effect: he began to sweat and get afraid as he noticed how the water kept on climbing.

"No! I'll do anything! I'll tell you anything! But I don't wanna die! Stop the water! I'll confess!" He pleaded.

No response came and the water merely kept on climbing: he arched his head up to glue it to the slit so as to try to look out but he could only make a lone light bulb hanging above him and a simplistic concrete ceiling with pillars supporting it.

"Please…! Please! Please! I don't wanna die! I'll tell you anything! The location of the Subspace HQ! The insides! The security systems! Don't you want that info? You must want it! That's why you picked me!"

No response came: his body, save for the head, arms and legs, was submerged already: he began to kick and punch and hit the cover but it barely rocked at all.

"Shit! No! No! I can't die! I won't die! You won't get away with it! You'll get the capital sentence! You'd deserve it, damn it!"

His neck was already submerged and he had little space left: he breathed in several times.

_Maybe if I appear dead they'll open and then…!_

The water finished climbing and he had to close his eyes: he tried to hold his breath but was unable to and the water rushed into his lungs: he immediately blacked out.

… _I'm dead…? There's nothing… I float in the middle of nowhere… Voices, memories… A light…? "Netto – kun… Netto – kun…! Netto – kun! HEY! Hikari Netto!" … "Ugh! Who the heck is making up this scandal?" … "It's me!" … "Huh?"… "Here! Inside of the PET!"… "The PET, you say?" … "Good morning, Netto – kun!" … "You're…?" … "My name's Rock Man!"… "Rock Man?"… "I got programmed by your Papa. I'm your Original Battling Navi!"… "My Original Navi, you say?"… "Pleased to meet you, Netto – kun!"… "Netto – kun?"… "I see." … "What's wrong?" … "He promised me… "When you became a 5__th__ grader, I'll create you an Original Navi"… But…"… "But?" … "It's different from what I'd imagined! I thought you'd be scarier and have a bigger body… I expected a strong-looking guy!"… "Eh?"… "What a disappointment!"… "N-no way…"… Oh man. I'm remembering our re-meeting, 4 years ago… 5 days after I started 5__th__ grade… Maybe Papa actually timed it to match with the number? I wouldn't be surprised. And I had too much of an imagination back then… The events which would happen afterwards would correct me… Never judge someone by a simple dismissive look… I guess those Atomic Network guys have fallen for that same thing… Isn't that "irony"?_

He suddenly tried to open his eyes and although his surroundings were blurry he could make out a distorted light.

_Is that the pathway to Heaven or what? I'm remembering other things, such as… The aftermath of Pharaoh Man's defeat… Papa, Saito – niisan and I met in the Science Labs… "Netto, Saito. Now that the truth is out I can finally give you this program…"… "What's it? A new Battle Chip?"… "I don't think so, Netto – kun." … "Hah, hah. No, it isn't a Battle Chip. It's a very specific program which allows for you and Saito to "synchronize" your thoughts using a special frequency which interacts with your brain and Saito's processor… In short: you will be able to exchange thoughts!" … "W-WHOA~! And if I peek into his mind I'll know the homework's solutions, then?" … "Ah! But then… Saito could choose to deny you access, you see, Netto..." … " Netto – kun! You must solve it yourself!"… Really…_

He tried to move his body but it felt lagged or like it wasn't responsive so he gave up on that.

_Heh, heh, heh… But I've learnt my lesson, Saito – niisan… I didn't try to cheat in homework but Dekao… The guy won't change…_

CRASH!

"COME AT FULL POWER!"

"What the fuck!"

_Huh? Isn't that Sigma? Then… What's the deal? I'm alive or I'm dreaming up a rescue? Then again, can you dream when you're dead?_

"HORRA~H!"

Netto managed to see how light suddenly invaded the space and two large hands brought him out of the liquid: he coughed and spat the fluid but he was too dizzy to follow on: he felt how he was deposited in cold concrete ground and he could hear voices around him which weren't too clear and movement: his sight was blurry and his body wouldn't move.

_What's going on…? I'm descending into further madness…? _

"Netto – kun! Netto – kun!"

_Saito – niisan…? Huh… I'm hallucinating, right? _

He felt something wrapping around his body but the blurry vision didn't clear and he still felt out of place.

"I'LL CRUSH EACH OF YOUR BONES!" Sigma was yelling close by.

_Bones? Navis don't have bones… Right? Do you mean Skull Man? You wanna beat him in a Net Battle? _

"I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO THE HELL FROM WHERE YOU CAME FROM! I PROMISE!"

_Ugh… My head is spinning… I feel like I'm going to lose consciousness… But am I alive or am I dead? Am I imaging things? Then again… This cold floor feels very real… And the air as well…_

"… GO TO HELL!"

"… Cool it, Sigma!"

"HOW CAN YOU STAY SO COOL, YOU?"

_Is that Blood…? And if they've found my body then… It's no wonder… Is my soul seeing this somehow?_

He suddenly noticed a large black blurry shape looming over him and heard a gasp.

"By all the… You're right! Oi! Hikari! Wake up!"

_Huh? He doesn't sound surprised that I'm dead…? Or I'm getting things wrong._

"YOU PUNK! EXPLAIN THIS NOW OR I'M GONNA CRUSH YOU~!"

_Who is he talking to? I can't remember… How I ended up here to begin with… I feel a cold blackness creeping in… I'll soon be gone? I think I can feel Saito – niisan close by… I'm sorry, Saito – niisan…_

"Sigma! Stop already!"

"Yikes! Commander Omega! But…!"

"We've already figured out what's happened so drop that lowlife: nothing will save them from prision."

_Omega…? What "lowlife"…? "Figured out"…? Your words feel distant and remote like you were very far away… Like an echo… _

"…is he?" Saito's echoing voice asked.

_He's dead, isn't he…? Yeah… I'm dead… I'm sorry…_

"…recover…?"

_Recover my body… I'm sorry, guys… But the blackness is here… A free fall into blackness… A never ending blackness… I'm going… Saito – niisan: you can do it… You can… beat those guys… _Sayounara_…_

He saw blackness approaching and then it engulfed him wholly…


	12. Chapter 12: Dirty manuevers

**Chapter 12: Dirty maneuvers**

07:11 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 5th…

"… _Look… Netto. And you guys… I must tell you a secret… But you mustn't tell anyone else. It's very important. Netto believes in you guys and he doesn't want any secrets to interfere with your friendship…"_

"_Huh? What's this about, mister?"_

"_Chut! Dekao – kun! Be quiet!"_

"_S-sorry, Meiru – chan."_

"_We understand, mister!"_

"_Please go ahead."_

"_What's this about, Papa?"_

"_It's about Rock Man… Netto… Doesn't he remind you of someone?"_

"… _Of Saito – niisan."_

"… _Yeah. But that's not a recreation or imitation… Rock Man IS Saito."_

"_H-how's that possible? Didn't you say he'd died because his heart had some illness?"_

"_Yes. But I came up with a system to transfer his memories and personality into a Net Navi's body… And thus Rock Man was born…"_

"_So Rock Man's been Saito – niisan all along…! I knew that my hunch was too strong…! And he called me "otouto" when he got deleted by Pharaoh Man's attack too…! Why didn't you tell me before, Papa?"_

"_You weren't ready. Besides, a custom Navi like Rock Man… Back then I'd called the attention because there weren't many custom Navis… I'm sorry to have hidden this but it was necessary so that you would understand why I did it… I'm sorry."_

"_Rock Man was Saito – kun…! I remember him…!" _

"_Huh? I didn't get almost anything of what they said."_

"_Well. I didn't get to meet him but I guess he had to be a nice fella."_

"_Wow…"_

"_So? Can you keep this secret?" _

"_Count on me, sir!"_

"_Thank you, Meiru – chan."_

"_Keep it a secret…? Well… Guess that…"_

"_Hah! When it comes to secrets they call Thousand Secrets Girl!"_

"_Yaito – chan… Are you sure you haven't made it up?"_

"_Guts, guts. Guts Man isn't sure what the talk was about."_

"_It was complicated, desu…"_

"_Not really… But that doesn't change anything in my eyes."_

"_Nothing changes: Rock Man is a good companion."_

"_Netto."_

"_Mama…"_

"_I'm sorry, really… But we had to do it. It was for both of your sakes…"_

"_Did you intend to EVER tell me? Or was this tragedy necessary?"_

"_I planned to tell you once the N1 Grand Prix was over, yes…"_

"_I see… Saito – niisan… I'm sorry for being mean to you… I should've realized it earlier but… Papa… You can revive him, right?"_

"_Yes. I've got a strategy in mind… And I'll need you guys' help."_

"_Count with it, sir!"_

"_I'll prove I'm the strongest!"_

"_Hah! Cha will only prove ya are the slowest."_

"_Come on, Yaito – chan… Let's not start it up…"_

_Huh… I remember… When Papa finally came back home and told us the truth about Saito – niisan… Before we attempted the "Revival Strategy" which almost failed were it not for Blues' help… _

"… _Saito – niisan! You did it! You beat the WWW!"_

"… _Netto – kun…? Papa, did you…?"_

"_Yeah. I told him the truth, Saito…"_

"_Netto – kun, I…"_

"_No. There's no need to say anything, Saito – niisan. Nothing will change: we're still a tag-combo, right?"_

"_Yeah… That's right, Netto – kun. Sorry, but I can't shake off this habit I've gotten…"_

"_Don't bother: it sounds more like you."_

"_Did you at least try to do homework yourself?"_

"_Well… It's hard when you're depressed and all…"_

"_Oh. True. But from now on… You gotta do it yourself!"_

"_Fine~… What a strict niisan!"_

"_Well. That's how he seems to be like. Right, Saito?" _

"_Yeah, Papa… That's how I am, Netto – kun. You're too sneaky: and I need to fix that habit… Don't think you'll escape it for too long because there'll be a day in which Navis will be able to come into the real world!"_

"_But that'll surely be a long way from now so~… Heh, heh, heh!"_

"_Jeez. If only you did the homework and didn't ask for trouble…"_

"_But, really… Enzan won't just admit he owed me one! He can be somewhat stiff… He needs someone to tickle him!"_

"_Well. Maybe I agree on that one, Netto – kun."_

"_Heh, heh, heh! Let's go home: at least the whole deal is over… Over…"_

_Yeah… My tale is over already…_

"…smash them till only DUST is left!"

"…violence only feeds violence…"

"…you two…"

_I'm hearing voices…? Sigma… Blood…? Saito – niisan…?_

"…tto – kun… Netto – kun… Wake up… Curry…"

"CURRY? WAIT FOR ME!"

Netot suddenly sat up without realizing it and suddenly blinked several times: he realized he'd sat up on his bed and that he was wearing his typical pajamas.

"Netto – kun! Finally!"

Saito suddenly hugged him and began to cry out of joy: Sigma and Blood Shadow sounded relieved as well.

"Hikari! I knew it! He's a tough guy! Right, Blood!"

"Well, yeah… Welcome back, Hikari – kun."

"Then… I'm alive?" Netto managed to blurt.

"You've always been alive."

"W-what happened yesterday, then?"

"The water… It was a trick… It's a special kind of water named "breathable oxygen-able liquid" which allows you to keep on breathing… But they'd filled it with hallucinating drugs to further confuse you…"

"So the guy wanted to make me feel confused and then he would have me blurt out what I knew about the Subspace?"

"Yeah… Using strong lights and sounds to stun you and further confuse you… It'd seem the guy overdid it with the doses and that's why even thought we got you out of there quickly enough you didn't respond: Sigma got furious and began to shake the criminal."

"But, in the end… They were a fall guy?"

"Yeah… They didn't know anything about the "Master" behind Atomic Network… We've checked his iPhone, the bank accounts info, his fingerprints and all… We're pending to figure out their real origin and name unless the registers were erased…"

"And that's why some of the voices seemed to echo and I couldn't properly see much… All felt chaotic… The only thing I could cling into was some memories… Our reunion… The "Saito Batch" program… Papa's confession… And the aftermath of Pharaoh Man's defeat…"

"Yeah. Dr. Lartes decided not to touch anything through your chip implant because he wanted to play safe but at least their readouts were proof enough that you were alive and all…"

"Thank goodness…" He sighed in relief.

"We didn't want to hit you or splash you with cold water either because we feared a violent reaction… In the end I decided to use something which always makes you react…"

"Curry… I'm sorry, guys… I got you worried a lot…"

"Don't mind it, Hikari… I've got a new motto! Yovne Slleh!"

"Heh. Not bad…"

"And I've got more of them in store! Nam Hoarahp! And Nam Erif! Nam Cigam! Nam Cele! Nam Deroloc!"

"I think that's enough, Sigma… Ah. Mail from Charles…"

"He must want a status update… At least we can give him the good news."

"By the way! Is that system some rip-off?"

"No. It commercially exists but it's intended to be a system to disconnect and meditate and all… But the guy filled it with drugs…"

"And he corrupted it into an interrogation method, huh?"

"Yeah. But it'd seem that Dark Land were the ones who invented it."

"Dark Land! The guys behind Napalm Man… I remember even it's been almost 4 years… How Napalm Man feigned having been in an accident and having lost his memory files and then said he wanted to "help" but in truth he made Knight Man go berserk with some advanced system which eluded detection by Cream Land's computers… He then took profit of the attack Knight Man inflicted to the defense system to loosen the national firewall and try to start an invasion… Luckily Knight Man and you combined your power and we beat the guy while also turning on the firewall again…" Netto recalled.

"Yeah. And one of the earthquakes Earth Rock Man did hit Dark Land and crippled a secret military compound which apparently was trying to research on stealth ICBMs… This doesn't feel like a coincidence to me but they could be red herrings too…" Saito sighed.

"Red herrings…?"

"Distractions, bait, _cul-de-sac_…"

"A dead end, huh? Now that wouldn't surprise me, yeah."

"Good. Do you feel strong enough to move?"

"Yeah… Heck, I've spent what, 19 hours unconscious? Talk about a wasted weekend."

He climbed off and fumed as he headed for the balcony and looked out into the city.

"People are selfish. We asked for nothing in exchange of saving the Network from being erased or turned into a soup of garbage clusters of data and look at what they do to us." He muttered.

"I know, Netto – kun… There are some who will never be thankful to anyone and just want to get away with it…"

"I need a good breakfast. That'll help me vent this mood…"

"Charles will be dropping by in an hour's time too."

"Heh! Selrahc and Sivad! Heh, heh, heh! I'm a genius of jokes, see~!"

08:45 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… I place this here and then we'll get out: what a spectacle it'll be!"

"What a disappointment it'll be 'cause the Frenchman will come to reap your soul."

"Who the hell! Twilight?"

"Do not underestimate the power of Frenchmen. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"Shut the hell up."

Grenadier Man had been inside of a basement somewhere and attaching a C4 explosive to a pipe labeled "MAIN GAS PIPE" when "Vader" showed up behind him accompanied by Mettools number 27 and 28.

"Me~…"

"Tto~…"

"Metto~…"

"They say you look frail." Twilight taunted.

"GRHKX! I'm going to smash you!"

"Come to Melbourne and find me. If you can, that is, Frail Fragile Weak Useless Guy." He challenged.

"I'm so gonna do that!" He hissed.

The door suddenly opened and a man on his 30s stepped in.

He was over a meter and ninety tall and had brown hair.

He wore a simple black wool jumper, jeans and sneakers.

He sported a gun-belt with two guns and a knife plus sunglasses.

"Ah. Let me introduce you to Un."

"Un? That's the French word for "one", right?"

"_Good luck_."

The man suddenly punched Grenadier Man on the stomach area and the blow was strong enough to have him bounce against the pipe and into the floor where he got kicked: the man brusquely lifted him and chocked him with the right hand while he delivered blows with the left fist into the torso: Grenadier Man's kicks and gripping of the man's right wrist didn't seem to take any effect either.

"What in the hell…!"

The man let him fall into the ground and quickly circled him before he lifted his backpack, opened it, and closed it: he lifted Grenadier Man by the sides and began to make his helmet hit against the concrete walls causing echoes to form inside of it and torment Grenadier Man: he growled and warped.

"Fuck. I can't use weapons here… Save for this! Battle Chip, Gold Fist, Silver Fist! Eat these!"

Grenadier Man resumed kicking and hitting the guy but it made no difference whatsoever: he began to get further annoyed and tried to kick the spot where his balls would be at but it didn't take effect either: the man suddenly stomped his right foot and he yelped: he pulled his right arm and began to swing him in a 180º arch so that he ended up hitting the floor left and right several times in a row.

"_Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor_…" Twilight sang in the meanwhile to make fun of the situation.

"You lowlife~!"

"_Let the fools hit the floor, let the fools hit the floor_…" He came up with his own mockery of the song.

"I'll kill you yet!"

"_Let the weak hit the floor, let the weak hit the floor…"_ He continued taunting Grenadier Man with his mockery versions.

"I'm so gonna turn you into RAW BITS!"

"_Let the bits hit the floor, let the bits hit the floor_…"

"FUCK YOU~!"

"_One! All wrong with me. Two! All wrong with you. Three! All wrong with you guys. Four! All wrong with us."_

The mysterious man stopped and Grenadier Man groaned and hissed and he somehow managed to stand but he was filled with blows and hits everywhere: his balance was pretty frail too.

"DAMN YOU~! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

"_Let the frail hit the floor, let the frail hit the floor…_"

Grenadier Man escaped and Twilight opened a holographic screen to see him appearing somewhere in the Reverse Cyber World: the guy was hissing and cursing.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!"

"And now…"

"Huh? What's this beeping sound close by…? My backpack…? It couldn't be…! Quick! Let's get it out and…!"

"_Time's up_."

An explosion originated from his backpack and spread: Grenadier Man roared in agony while Twilight chuckled.

"Hmpf! _Monsieur_ Spimer stuffed their own bomb into their backpack: talk about a lesson they're not going to forget… Heh, heh, heh… That fool was fighting a robot, see! An excellent robot, I must admit that… Heh, heh, heh… Maybe he's supposed to look like Roger Moore." He muttered.

The explosion cleared and it could be seen that Grenadier Man's backpack was gone and he had a big gaping hole on his back: cursing, he warped elsewhere while the robot simply came out of the room.

"Heh. Trying to blow up a Game Center? What savages… What makes you different from vulgar terrorists? My organization had more grace! Hah!"

10:11 AM (Melbourne Time)…

"… This is Court of Owls… Respond, Talon."

"This is Talon. What are the catching catches of catch?"

"Evil, blessed and despicable… MICE!"

"Roger. ETA: 8 minutes."

"Excellent…"

Philip was walking down a street when his cell-phone rang and he replied to the call before pocketing it and looking around.

_I got de-briefed by the police but since the owner didn't want to receive Mr. Twilight's anger then he didn't say anything special about me and they just thought I was another "victim"… I told them I had a parent and they simply let me go… I'm just 16, anyway. Heh, heh, heh… I'm lucky. But it'd seem some guys who let fear rule them end up hating the whole deal even… Like that "Past" guy who showed up on Friday…_

He reached a small two-floor house and rang the bell: Twilight (without the coat and hat) opened the door and signaled him to come inside: Philip followed him and he stopped mid-way across the corridor to open a concealed door on the left side.

"The basement is the first stop: you'll have to go through a test to prove your worth and strength and resolve."

"Kill someone?"

"Nah. I'm not that literal of a Sith Lord." He grinned.

"… Ah. The horse, I guess."

"Good… Have you ever tried it?"

"No." He shrugged.

"Then you must endure the horse."

"I've endured 2 years of being a volunteer… I can endure this."

"Excellent. That's the kind of behavior I want to be. Get geared up while I settle a little something."

"Roger."

Twilight continued down the corridor into a living room where he had a table with a laptop atop it: he typed into it and five holograms of his subordinates appeared.

"How does it feel to travel across the Cyber World undetected?"

"Excellent." Freeze Man grinned.

"Heh, heh, heh… It is new sensation altogether!" Cosmo Man added.

"Hah! It's cool." Cloud Man laughed.

"It's practical, yeah." Swallow Man shrugged.

"I like it." Yamato Man simply replied.

"Zoan Gate Man: did they get anything else out of the man?"

"Not much… His orders were sent physically by warping them using "DCs" to an underground spot somewhere and he'd pick them… There never was any real contact… The messages don't use personal pronouns but the writing style makes it clear it's a man… Or it could be a woman passing off as a man… The lack of personal pronouns makes it hard to discern and the orders are always simple… Like the latest, 4 days ago, listing all materials needed to build that coffin thing…" Zoan Gate Man exposed.

"Hum. I see."

"By the way, Twilight – sama… Don't you think it's risky to stay here after you'd been seen?"

"Heh! Melbourne's a big city… And those guys would rather think I already switched countries too… So…"

"Ah. Then it makes sense, Twilight – sama…"

"Remember: I'm your new Lord. Falzer is gone. And they're not coming back and neither is Greiga. You must evolve or else you die as a fool."

"But of course."

"Good… I'll turn on one of my lil flying spies… I copied the idea from Kanou Shade… An eye for an eye, Kanou! Heh! Let's see… Morgan's heir must be pretty pissed off by now…"

"… I want to go and slice Plasma Man into a billion pieces!" Charles could be heard cursing.

"Cool it, Charlie~ Team… If we recklessly charge in then we fall for their plots and we could end up dead… How would that benefit us?" Davis asked back.

"Dunno, Dave! Ask HAL if he's got a better plan than this!" He grumbled back.

"Hmpf. Let them get annoyed and wander around in vain… Next stop is the novice Demon… Heh, heh, heh…"

"… I'm fed up with this! I'd love to blow them up!" Nelaus was exclaiming aloud.

"Nelaus… Violence only feeds violence: it's an unending cycle, a vicious spiral…" Isaac warned with a sigh.

"Heh, heh, heh… Well. Enough… I've got business to tend to: you continue gathering information about Hell's Envoy… Maybe I'll find out how Atomic Network approached the guy…" Twilight commanded.

"Roger!"

"Don't attempt to contact me either… Besides! They'll be far more worried about what other strategies those guys could come up with than about us, anyway…"

"Understood…"

Twilight walked away and headed down the stairs to the basement after locking the hidden door: he reached the basement room where Philip had changed into the S&M gear and looked calm.

"Master."

"Good… Let me show it to you…"

He pulled open two curtains which were blocking off another segment of the basement room and revealed a metallic horse with two vibrators built into it: a pulley with a chain and hook was hanging above it and it had restrains for the hips and ankles on its sides.

"Turn around."

Philip calmly did so and Twilight immobilized his wrists before closing the hook around the band circling his torso from behind: he added the ball-gag and the blindfold to him before he lifted him by pulling the chain and began to lower him into the horse: he let him hover one or two centimeters over the vibrators before suddenly letting go: he fell into them and they violently pushed their way inside but he didn't seem to find it painful.

"Good… Let's gear you up."

Twilight set up the vibrators plus the urethra beads and the clothes pegs before he bent his legs and secured them using the hip and ankle restrains to keep him from rising off the horse: he picked a remote and turned on the ones in the horse which began to spin clockwise and anti-clockwise at a high speed.

"This is but the start!"

He engaged the ones on his nipples next followed by the one on his cock's head: Philip began to arch and convulse but he seemed to be timing it with the vibrations.

"Good… Time it so that you draw the max possible pleasure… Maybe I should use Ocelot's bed…? Nah. That could be dangerous: it depends on each person's type of heart and all…" He began grinning but then began muttering to himself in Japanese as if to make sure Philip wouldn't understand his muttering.

He shrugged and picked a chair in which he sat as he picked up a novel titled _Star Wars Death Star – Michael Reeves and Steve Perry_ which he began to calmly resume reading.

"Hum. So Tarkin had an affair with that protégé of his, Daala… And she was trying to figure out the ID of the saboteur who blew up an old Imperial ship… My good friend Vader came there more than once to try to help Tarkin root out saboteurs although he didn't like being told to go or not go by Tarkin yet Emperor – sama was stubborn on that… It's intriguing to see the PoV of those civilians contracted to do things like handle the library, a cantina or take care of some construction… Not like they had any other choice…" He muttered as he read.

He glanced at a chronometer which read "08:38" but ignored it as he continued with his reading.

"Heh. Something tells me that Snatcher & Hauptmann are about to shine once again… And maybe the 4th Demon too… 09:19… Let's allow for another 40 seconds…"

He closed the book after putting a marker on it and then headed over to Philip: he simply stood there and watched on at his body's movements with a hint of amusement: the chronometer beeped.

"Let's see the results."

He pulled out the bell vibrator along with the beads: Philip arched his body and released several vigorous sprouts which landed into his body and stained it: he remained upwards and Twilight began to switch off the vibrators: he took off the ball-gag and the blindfold to see that he was still conscious and panting while looking excited.

"Exciting!" He gasped.

"Good, good! You've passed the test… You deserve a new name… The name of… Bapgei. Darth Bapgei!" He announced.

"Darth Bapgei…! Is there a special reason why you picked it?"

"Yeah. I had another apprentice who became an expert at Net Battles but then left our organization because he couldn't stand the idea of being involved in S&M… His name is Nelaus."

"And how are my name and his related, anyway? _Star Wars_?"

"Correct. Both are made using the names Bane and Plagueis. Bane was the "Sith Lord" who began the Rule of Two about 1,000 years before Episode I and set the pathway for the eventual rise of the Sith… And Plagueis was a Muun who trained Darth Sidious himself… You've seen Episode III?"

"Ah! I remember, yeah… "_The tragedy of wise Plagueis_"… But it was an irony because it was Palpatine who killed him during his sleep to finally rise to "Lord"…"

"Correct. I'll let something out. The 1st Demon Tribe member… My _kyoudai_… His name is Vadous. See?"

"From Vader and Sidious… So Master is named Sidier?"

"No. IQ – sama, my recruiter, discarded it and gave me the name Twilight instead. There was a Navi named Sidier but who was affiliated with another party… They've gone overseas and they're not going to get involved…" He shrugged.

"I understand… But if you said 1st, 2nd and 4th…"

"Ah! The 3rd used the name Kanou Shade but went into exile: he's not involved either. Take it slowly."

"And "kyoudai" and "sama"… Are those Japanese words?"

"Huh? Ah. Yeah. I'm from Japan myself. They mean "brother" and "master" or can be used as "miss", "mistress", "Ms." Or "Mr." as well when addressing them a letter or when they are someone with a high rank or a famous person… You needn't worry… Most of your opponents know English so I'm not forcing you to learn Japanese…"

"Roger, Master… I won't disappoint you." He grinned.

"Good… That's the mood I want from you… Be dynamic! Think! Improve and use whatever means to achieve victory! Let the enemy make the first move, analyze them, reason why they use that tactic, find a weak point to exploit… Those are keys to victory! Remember them, Darth Bapgei! Your future is with the Demon Tribe: which shall rule the surface world!"

Twilight began to laugh in a creepy manner and Philip just grinned…


	13. Chapter 13: Uncle Cabbage's Farm

**Chapter 13: Uncle Cabbage's Farm**

18:18 PM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 5th…

"… Charles? Are you there?"

"Patrick Nokay… What's up?"

"I found this letter on the outside mailbox."

"That logo… Atomic Network!"

"A challenge, then… Or a trap."

"It doesn't seem to be a bomb-letter or a poisonous letter…"

"Good."

Charles had been working on something in a small office room having a desk with a desktop computer atop it, a set of three metallic drawers and a shelf with some books on it plus a window behind him when someone stepped inside of the room.

"Is anyone here today, Patrick?"

"No. There's only you two and me."

Patrick Nokay could be close to his 20s but maybe he was 18 or 19 years old and closer in age to Davis and Charles.

He had brownish hair which had been cut so that it didn't grow too thick and it was combed with the help of fastener and comb: his eyes' irises were emerald green.

He wore a simple white shirt, a green bowtie, jeans and white sneakers plus a black leather belt.

He had reading glasses on.

"Let's see… An address! "Granja de l'oncle Col, Carretera del Vallès 16, 08202, Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalunya, Espanya." … This is pretty clear: it's a location in Sabadell which seems to be on the province of Barcelona which in turn is part of the Catalonia territory and Catalonia is in Spain."

"It's gotta be an abandoned farm, I'd guess." Davis guessed.

"Yeah… And the name's funny… "Uncle Cabbage's Farm"… Let's check it on Google Maps… Aha-hah. Alright. There's the place… There's no Street View yet… But judging from the aerial photos the farm buildings and the compound take up at least half a hectare…" Charles muttered as he checked it through the laptop.

"The time difference is 7 hours less so it's about 11:30 AM there. But looking at the map and the distance between each farm I'd say it's gotta be a pretty quiet place… If we deploy a "DA" to fight in "Cross Fusion" mode then we can prevent anyone from stepping in…"

"Speaking of Cross Fusion, Sakurai – san did get to beat Zoan Snake Man the other day, right?" Nokay brought up.

"She pounded him with Zeta Cannon, Giga Cannon and Dream Sword. It'd seem she hasn't been wasting the time." Charles chuckled.

"Charles…" Davis looked suspicious.

"Hey! Don't think wrongly of me! I'm 25! She's 15! It's not like I'm a pervert, Davis! You know the last girlfriend I had at college 5 years ago ditched me for another guy who reminded you of Daniel Craig. And we'd just been meeting for 2 weeks." Charles protested.

"Man. I had one in college too but she said I looked "too kiddie" and wanted "a big macho guy"… It didn't even last 6 days." Nokay admitted while rolling his eyes.

"The curse of the college?"

"Of Charleston College." Davis sarcastically replied.

"Oh come on. That's a joke Swallow Man came up with."

"Anyway. Let's go meet Vadous and he'll supply the "DA" and the gateway to get there." Davis rallied.

"Beware of cows." Nokay made up a joke.

"Sure, sure. Jeez."

19:29 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… So… Master. These Atomic Network folks… They're not such a big deal, after all?"

"No! They look like some poor imitation of the WWW and Nebula at the best."

"I'd heard about them."

"No wonder."

"What became of the WWW, though? I think there never was any trial or I'd heard of it."

"Hah! The WWW Team? Have a look in live."

Philip (having changed back into his street clothes but sporting a black silk cape hanging from his shoulders) was sitting in the living room sofa while Twilight, sitting at his right, was working with the laptop.

"Yo and behold!"

"… _Oh yeah! Rock them all and roll them all!_"

"Elec! Lower it! You're LOUD!"

"Leave the Beatles wannabe alone, Hinoken."

"Don't butt into this, Madoi!"

"You guys… What if Wily – sama sees you like that?"

"YIKES!"

"Ahem, ahem. Not "what if"… I've been here for 15 minutes already and talking with Yuriko and Regal! Count Elec! Shut the door!"

"YIKES!"

Twilight brought up live footage of the Maha Ichiban's restaurant and subtitles began to automatically appear on the screen.

"Whoa! They opened a restaurant?"

"Yeah! 4 years ago. "Maha Ichiban"… "Maha First"… Maha comes from Maha Jarama, Magic Man's Operator… He had a _yoga_ show with 90% audience ratings which he and Magic Man used to hypnotize people into acting like animals. He's from Namaste and such is a good cook. It was his idea to open up the restaurant." He explained.

"The guy with King Land accent is Count Elec, right? I wouldn't have guessed he wanted to emulate the Beatles."

"There you have the burning soul: Hino Kenichi but prefers to be named Hinoken instead… He's obsessed with defeating Freeze Man. The tale is that, 4 years ago, he tried to single-handedly destroy Gospel's Virus Factory beneath Japan Internet City… He failed and then Freeze Man gravely wounded Fire Man… Meijin, a genius programmer, managed to transfer his memories and experience to Heat Man's frame to improve him: Heat Man forced Freeze Man to pull back on the 1st encounter and in the 2nd they clashed although they were pretty much matched… But then Hinoken used a program named "Extra Code" and managed to gravely wound Freeze Man… By the time he made it back to the base Wily had Shadow Man finish the guy off…" Twilight narrated.

"I see… So Freeze Man would like to deal with Shadow Man?"

"Correct, Darth Bapgei." Freeze Man's hologram (inside of the PC) replied with a grin.

"They only know the "Sith" name. Safety reasons…"

"I understand. So, the woman is…?"

"Iroaya Madoi… And Colored Man… She once got hired by Gauss Magnets but that was because he wanted her to tell him about Dr. Wily…"

"And that old man is Dr. Wily… What is he up to nowadays?"

"Hmpf. Some "friend" about to die requested of him to give up his ambitions by pointing out he'd failed twice… And he did and has been giving a hand to the Science Labs… There you see Dr. Regal and Yuriko plus Needle Man… They were "Nebula"… But now they're nothing: how the mighty have fallen!"

"What happened with Nebula?"

"Heh! Forte: an Independent Model Net Navi… He tracked them down and let out the location for the Net Police… He wanted to let the Darkloids continue their campaign alone as they had intended instead of having them become Nebula's puppets… Yuriko worked with me last summer in Neo Gospel… But when an accident caused her to recover her memories she quit but I'd foreseen it… No grudge… Dr. Regal kept on proving he still had the power to bring up barely repressed anger and grudge with his smug attitude but Wily messed with his head and extinguished that smug behavior…" He described.

"Truly. How the mighty have fallen… But wasn't there a 2-year gap between the incidents sprouted by the Darkloids and before Neo Gospel rose up?"

"Yeah. I'd been wandering there and there to shake any pursuers off and building up experience and resources… When all was ready then I returned to Japan and started Neo Gospel…"

"Twilight – sama. I apologize for the interruption. 16 and 17 report that Morgangantz has received a letter from Atomic Network telling him to go to this address… Vadous will provide the means to displace and a "DA" as well…" Zoan Gate Man appeared on-screen with a map.

"I see."

"I dispatched 17 and 18 there."

"Good job. Patch me to their footage: you materialized them?"

"Obviously. The place only has the basic ADSL lines which we had to bring up again because the phone company had shut it down given how the building has been abandoned ever since 5 years ago. They won't notice it, anyway." Zoan Gate Man continued.

"That's a job well done."

"Thank you very much."

"Let's see… 17 and 18! Show me what your eyes witness!"

Two screens displaying FPV (first person view) which were obviously the Mettools opened: Charles could be seen stepping into a lawn filled with weed and having a dusty path forking into five directions: a nearby banner read "Granja de l'oncle Col" and five buildings could be seen.

"Let's see… The stables, the barn, the garage, the residence and the greenhouse… They're all empty and no IR signatures come from inside of them…" Twilight muttered.

"So that's Charles Morgangantz… Is he a Net Savior?"

"No. Justice Council… A small ONG which investigates big criminals plus other illegal activities… They're rather resourceful… This guy's about my age too… So he's kind of another rival to me…"

"Hum. I see."

"… Uncle Cabbage's Farm… If he could see it then he'll start stirring inside of his grave… Guess there's been some typical inheritance fight and lawsuits and all to see who will inherit the farm… Or maybe the inheritors are fed up with farm life and want city life thus they left it to crumble away to begin with…" Charles muttered aloud.

"No IR signatures apart from yours, Charles…" Davis reported.

"They must be waiting in the Cyber World and then materialize to assault me, I guess."

Charles headed for the residence building and opened a croaking door to step into a dusty hall with two open doors to the left and right and a stair climbing up to the first floor.

"This place could do for a terror film shooting."

"With zombies and ghosts and wraiths…?" Davis joked.

"Guess that."

"Gotcha…!" Someone exclaimed.

"The curse of the gotcha, gotchi, gotchu, gotche and gotcho…?" Charles sarcastically joked back.

"W-WHAT was THAT?"

"Dunno. Autumn Shoots Man."

"BAMBOO! Bamboo Man!"

"Oho. Good pun, Morgan's heir!" Twilight muttered.

"Why?"

"Easy! Bamboo shoots only grow in spring! He's quoting a proverb which is "finding bamboo shots in winter" and which means to say he stumbled upon a very rare phenomenon or something which is almost impossible to see… In short: he's calling him a weird guy." He explained.

"No wonder he got pissed off."

Bamboo Man had showed up behind Charles while having two Bamboo Swords drawn and Charles calmly turned around to provoke him: Twilight sneered and explained the joke to Philip: Charles drew his sword and began to repel Bamboo Man.

"The "DA" is ready!"

A "Dimensional Area" formed around the building and Charles drew his "Synchro Chip" with a grin.

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"Che."

"So that's "Cross Fusion"…"

"CF" Charles quickly drew his saber again and began to clash blades with Bamboo Man as they jumped into the air and danced on the stairs' hand-railing but neither of them seemed to be getting anywhere at all: Bamboo Man began to get annoyed.

"Che! I'm supposed to have grown stronger!"

"Did you try sparring against the Shitenou?"

"What's "shitenou", Master?"

"Four Heavenly Kings. Sometimes named Big Four… It's a title granted to a quartet of characters having a high rank in some games, _anime_ and _manga_… Ever heard of Pokémon?"

"Yeah. I'm still waiting for the release of _Platinum Version_."

"You know the League? The 4 Trainers before the Champion are named like that in the Japanese Versions… And if you didn't know… "Leaf Green" is based on the original _Green_ game…"

"What! There was a _Green Version_?"

"It never came out of Japan but I dunno the why. But it began as _Green & Red_: _Green_ had different PKMN sprites too… _Blue_ was the 3rd version which was the one which was exported long _Red_… And "Yellow" is named _Pikachuu_ in the original… By the way: I'll tell you the secret of its name!"

"There's a secret?"

"Yeah. The name is a combination of "pika-pika" and "chuu-chuu" which are onomatopoeia for frizzling or sparkling and a mouse's noise… In short: "Spark Mouse" is the meaning of the name."

"Spark Mouse! Wow!" He whistled.

"Hmpf! Morgangantz! The reason we called you here was because you'll be our guinea-pig to test our new ace-in-the-hole!"

"Oh yeah? Show it to me, Nam Oobmab!"

"GHTKHXN!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Hit a vibe~?"

"Hmpf! Atomic Chip!"

"What?"

Bamboo Man formed something similar to a Dark Chip but which had the Atomic Network logo instead of that dome thing and the body was orange in color: its logo glowed with an orange glow.

"I'll show it to you!"

The Chip began to glow and eight streams of energy carrying small spheroids alongside them flew out of the Chip's logo and into Bamboo Man's chest emblem: a menacing orange glow formed behind him and he began to chuckle.

"The Atomic Chip! It grants us 25% power bonus!"

"Hmpf. Time for my entrance…" Twilight sneered.

"How…?" Philip began asking.

"_Wait and see_."

He inputted some commands and "Vader" formed behind Bamboo Man while aiming his typical accusing finger at him.

"Do not underestimate the power of "Dark Chips". I find your lack of faith disturbing." He spoke into the laptop's own mike.

"Damn it! Twilight! You again!"

"Nothing eludes the eyes and ears of Legion 64!"

"This guy…! We'll settle it with you lowlife later on!"

"Come anytime, Non Bamboo Man."

"Grftx! Bamboo Rain!"

Bamboo Man made some bamboo lances rain down across the hall and each of them had a sharp end coated with a purplish liquid which obviously was some sort of poison: "CF" Charles calmly began to cut them but then Bamboo Man drew his Bamboo Swords and suddenly stabbed them into "CF" Charles' hips: he grumbled and stepped back.

"Justice Cannon!"

BLAM!

"Uack! But I poisoned you! Hah, hah, hah!"

"And what if? That doesn't mean certain victory."

"Eat this! Bamboo Gun!"

He drew his two green-colored Mega Cannons and began to shoot some more bamboo lances which hit "CF" Charles and stabbed him: "CF" Charles grumbled.

"Program Advance! Justice Sword, Triple Slot In! Golden… Blade!"

"What!"

He formed the Program Advance and hit the floor with it: the shockwave travelled across it and hit Bamboo Man making him hit the far wall and groan from the blow.

"Shit. But you should have less than 50% HP left and I've still got about 55% left!" He grumbled.

"Bring it on!" Davis challenged.

"You're asking for it! Bamboo Tower!"

Bamboo lances began to pop out from the ground and formed a cage around "CF" Charles before a new set of them in inclined angles popped out and hit him from several spots at the same time: Bamboo Man then dropped from above and delivered some kicks and punches to "CF" Charles while laughing.

"Eat this! Program Advance! Corn Shot, Triple Slot In! Corn Party! With a 25% power boost!"

"Ugra~h! They weren't kidding, damn it!"

"Your HP is below 20% by now and mine are still at 55%!"

"Hmpf! Then how's this? Battle Chip, Copy Damage!"

"What!"

A red circle formed around Bamboo Man and an arrow signaled him before his body frizzled for some seconds: he howled and "CF" Charles quickly extended his right forearm while switching the saber to the left one: he formed an Hyper Ball and it glowed before he flung his arm forward and it hit Bamboo Man, trapping him inside of the Hyper Ball by compressing his data: the Hyper Ball hit the floor.

"One, two… Ops."

"Gra~h! What humiliation! I'll have you REGRET THIS!"

"Oho. Not bad, Leo."

"That looked like _PKMN Colosseum_!" Philip gasped.

"Of course: he's recreated the Snatch Machine." Twilight grinned.

"Cool."

"And! Battle Chip, Bad Medicine! Any recovery attempts will deliver as much damage as that Recovery Battle Chip's value!"

"Fuck and fuck AND FUCK!"

"Go! Lizardon!"

"Lizardon? Which one is that…? Ah! Charizard!"

"That's the international name, but the Japanese name is Lizardon."

"Lizardon… Lizard Dragon! Not bad." Philip grinned.

"Fuck."

"_Daimonji_~!"

"Great Symbol. The pattern formed by this attack forms the _kanji_ "_dai_" which stands for "great", "big", "grand"…"

"Wow."

"Mugro~h! Not yet… NOT YET! I've still got 10% of my HP left!"

"Huff, huff… This poison thing made me fall to 12% of my HP!"

"How foolish… A battle isn't settled by HP… It's settled when one of them doesn't have strength to fight anymore!" Twilight sneered.

"You know, Charlie~ Team… Twilight's surprisingly quiet today."

"True. He's run out of gags?"

"No. I'm writing a review in my blog." Twilight smugly replied.

"From Melbourne…?" Bamboo Man tried to guess.

"I'd rather say Jakarta. Charming city, my dear..."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME~?"

"I know who your "Master" is! Christopher Lee's evil cousin!"

"Wha~t?"

"Christopher Lee…? Ah. Count Dooku's actor who also starred as Grand Moff Tarkin…" Davis realized.

"Program Advance! Justice Cannon, Triple Slot In! Golden Cannon!"

"Program Advance! Yo-yo, Triple Slot In! Yo-yo Great!"

Both shot their Program Advances at each other and the hit from each other made them fly across the room: Bamboo Man hit the stairs' base while "CF" Charles hit the right wall next to the door: both groaned and seemed to have run out of strength.

"Gruh! 3% of HP left… Tactical withdrawal!"

"Hyper Ball!"

"No way!"

"CF" Charles repeated the earlier trick and the Hyper Ball rocked before it stopped and glowed.

"Yessir! Bamboo Man: _get_!"

"DON'T SCREW ME~!" He roared from inside.

"Sorry, Uncle Cabbage."

"Futile!" A voice exclaimed.

"Shit. Plasma Man!"

"Die. Plasma Cannon!"

Plasma Man suddenly materialized in front of him and shot two continuous streams of plasma at him: "CF" Charles tried to shield.

"Shit. Only 10 HP left!"

Plasma Man grabbed the Hyper Ball and pressed the button to open it: Bamboo Man's compressed form uncompressed and resumed his normal form while looking pretty pissed off.

"Grhtk! I owe you one, Plasma Man, but that's just one!"

"I knew that." He simply replied.

"Do not underestimate the power of Snatcher Leo. I find your lack of faith disturbing." Twilight taunted.

"HMPF! Do not underestimate the power of Atomic Network! I find your lack of faith disturbing." Plasma Man shot back.

"Grah!"

"CF" Charles collapsed face-down on the ground and his "Cross Fusion" broke: his Link PET reformed and hit the floor.

"Now you die!"

"Demon Hand!"

"Gruckh!"

"Who…? Zoan Gate Man!"

"Metto~!"

"Ugra~h! Off me! Where did these 20 – something guys come out from?"

"Heh, heh, heh… They've been coming so as to not to miss the show. Do not underestimate the power of Mettools! I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Zoan Gate Man gripped Plasma Man with his Demon Hand catching him with the pants down and 24 Mettools suddenly jumped down from the ceiling to attack Bamboo Man from several spots and pinning him into the ground.

"IQ – sama wants them alive so I'm just fulfilling my commands."

"Damn it! Then we'll decimate that damned woman!"

"Over my dead body…!" Twilight icily hissed.

"Yikes." Philip gulped.

"And over OURS…"

The five subordinates' holograms formed there and they looked challenging: Plasma Man growled and ignited his jets to burn the Demon Hand but Zoan Gate Man wasn't impressed.

"Gra~h! Tactical withdrawal…!"

Bamboo Man warped and hit the floor to open the trap-door and flee: Plasma Man aimed his weapons at Zoan Gate Man who merely stepped back.

"Remote Gate!"

"What!"

"Gate Cannon!"

"Damn it!"

Plasma Man turned around expecting a strike from behind but it really came from the same spot Zoan Gate Man had been at before: Plasma Man grumbled.

"Die! Plasma Round! Double Round!"

"Hmpf. Ojiouzan!"

A small statuette formed there and when Plasma Man's rounds hit it the statuette opened its eyes and glowed before a thunderbolt fell down from the "sky" and hit Plasma Man: he howled.

"Metto~!"

"Ugra~h! Off me! Off me! OFF ME~!"

"Who is the one underestimating the opponent now? Hah! That's what you get for getting in the way of IQ – sama! Glory to IQ – sama!"

"Glory to IQ – sama~!" The Darkloids, Freeze Man and Zoan Gate Man chanted.

"Mugro~h! T-tactical withdrawal! I'LL REMEMBER THIS!"

Plasma Man escaped as well while Charles groaned and recovered somehow by standing on his fours.

"You were lucky, Morgan's tribe heir!"

"Ghrx… I'll admit that." He grudgingly replied.

"Close, TOO close…!" Davis muttered.

"Come back!"

"Metto~!"

All retreated yet the spy Mettools remained there.

"Sorry, Charles. I should've had Omega in standby." Vadous apologized over his PET.

"Well. Lesson learnt… Never go alone." He grumbled.

"I'll retrieve you two. Gateway: open!"

The purple "gateway" formed and Charles managed to pick his PET and walk into it before it vanished: the Mettools stopped transmitting and Twilight grumbled something under his breath.

"Che. Savages! If you think you can attack IQ – sama then I'm going to chase you all across the world! You're facing a Demon! Don't forget that, you lowlifes…!"

"Yikes."

"And we'll now start your swordsmanship training too… The sooner we get down to business the better 'cause these guys aren't gonna waste their time to begin with… And maybe we can pay a surprise visit to the 4th Demon with a lil idea of mine… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Roger, Master… I'm ready for anything! Heh, heh, heh…"


	14. Chapter 14: Assassin

**Chapter 14: Assassin**

06:36 AM (Bermuda Time), Tuesday October the 7th…

"… Master."

"Ah. Plasma Man… So?"

"I found them."

"Good. Did they ask questions?"

"No. They just stated their usual fare and their _modus operandi_…"

"Good… I want them to hack any files regarding that kid which those two fools hit by mistake…"

"Nelaus Rainon and Isaac?"

"Yeah. I'm starting to suspect there's more to 'em apart from being part of "Deadly Pandora" and being trained by Twilight… The master plan is advancing nicely enough, yeah. But I wanna find out what makes that guy so special. There must be a reason why Twilight is ignoring them despite their quitting of the gang…"

"Roger. I've prepared an account in the Cayman Islands from where they can anonymously draw any money they want… I told them to leave the files there… I'll then circuit them through some bank transfers and corrupt the data so that they don't know where it ended up before I bring it here for Master…"

"I'll leave the details up to ya… The great I ain't that good at subtleness and never was…"

Plasma Man appeared in the LCD monitor to report to his "Master" and they began to chat: the "Master" didn't seem to be surprised by his report and was shrugging.

"Please leave it up to me."

"In the meanwhile… You guys!"

"Master!"

"Bamboo Man: have you found out how the hell did that damned ball thing work like?"

"It uses a compression algorithm, sir. Not unlike Win RAR."

"Hah! So it's a system to compress data." He wasn't surprised.

"I've been researching on the defenses the Net Police HQ has and they're pretty high… They're expecting us…" Earth Rock Man reported.

"Then I better scrap that strike plan…"

"It would be wise, sir."

"From what I've been researching myself it'd seem they believe us to be overseas and are looking at islands with volcanoes…" Infinity Man warned next.

"Shit. We better try to erase all registers of this place."

"Yes. But there would be _physical_ registers which would be very hard to track down and destroy without calling for attention…" Infinity Man warned him.

"I'd forgotten that. Let's hope it takes them a while to single out this island… I did well on building a camouflage field but if they check maps then it won't do much… I can't allow for us to be found when we're so close to the D – Day!"

"I know, sir, but it's not like we can do much about it. Maybe we could start a rumor that we _were_ in an island but moved to the Asian continent because it was predictable… We could try to build a fake replica with some scraps of data left behind…"

"Ah! Good idea, Infinity Man!"

"If you'd leave it to me…" Demon Scythe requested.

"And me…" Grenadier Man grinned.

"Good! It's settled… Spread chaos and terror!"

"Chaos and terror! Glory to Atomic Network!"

19:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew! I bought some Chips to try Program Advances at Higureya but I had to endure Higure – san's odd jokes and trying to narrate in live a match between Sigma and Guts Man…"

"Welcome to the club, Nelaus."

"I get the irony, Isaac…"

"Nelaus Rainon…"

"Huh? Who goes there?"

Nelaus was reaching his house while he carried his school case and talking with Isaac's hologram.

"Talon."

"Talon?"

A guy suddenly landed in front of him while dropping from a rooftop.

This guy wore black leather clothes which covered his whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.

He carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of his body and which had sheaths for 6 knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.

Other equipment included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.

The guy carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.

His gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.

"Nelaus Rainon. The Court of Owls has sentenced you to _die_."

"The Court of Owls? A sect?" He skeptically asked.

The guy suddenly drew four knives in a blur and shot them to hit Nelaus' arms past the elbow and his legs over the knees: Nelaus gasped but didn't seem to be afraid of the wounds: the guy suddenly delivered a kick to his chest and had him crash against a wall.

"Uack!"

"Die."

"Shit. You're asking for it!"

Nelaus crouched and ran forward before suddenly hitting the guy's chest with his head and having him recoil: the guy quickly recovered and shot four more knives at the same spots: his bleeding seemed to be slowly stopping.

"I've got nanomachines which heal wounds at amazing speeds: I won't die just from bleeding to death." He coolly told him.

The guy didn't reply and simply began to circle around Nelaus while wielding a short blade: he suddenly swung it in a curved arch which tore through his uniform jacket and shirt and opened a superficial wound on his chest which soon cicatrized.

"What part of "I won't bleed to death" you don't get?"

"Nelaus… Maybe I should come out?"

"If I can't fight back… Then… Yeah. But I'll prove to this freak hired by Atomic Network that I'm no pencil-pusher."

"Alright. But be conscious that if they cut you a major artery the nanomachines won't be able to heal that massive bleeding!"

"Huh. You did well on warning me. You! Atomic Network hired you?"

The guy stayed silent and simply formed another cut across Nelaus' right arm length from beneath as he tried to deliver a punch to his face and the "Talon" crouched: Nelaus wasn't impressed and delivered a kick to the face but the guy flipped backwards and then got into a crouched position before quickly jumping back to his feet.

"Answer me!"

The guy kept on being silent and simply drew a second short sword: he jumped into the air and landed behind Nelaus to stab it into his left shoulder from behind: Nelaus hissed and used the right leg as support to spin around and hit the guy's balls with the left leg: he didn't seem to feel the pain either.

"Shit. This guy's a pro."

The guy remained silent and simply attacked again to stab his right hip: Nelaus pulled it out and flung it back at the guy but he merely caught it back and calmly stored it back: police sirens began to ring out and the guy calmly glanced backwards to see some coming.

"… Tactical withdrawal…"

They suddenly jumped into an adjacent building's rooftop and began to jump across them before they landed back on the street and vanished out of sight: Nelaus kept on pulling out the knives and his wounds began to heal: he panted.

"That guy was CREEPY." He growled.

"Atomic Network isn't wasting the time… First they almost got Charles 2 days ago and now they try to come for you… Hiring an assassin working for some sect…"

The police cars stopped and some policemen stepped down.

"A neighbor reported some fighting with a mysterious attacker… Are you alright?"

"Somehow… I have nanomachines which heal my wounds… The attacker was a foreigner and is EXTREMELY dangerous… They used the name "Talon" and said some "Court of Owls" ordered them but I guess they're some sect which Atomic Network hired…"

"Heck. Sending an assassin after a young man… What criminals!"

"Search the WHOLE district! Quick! Shoot with sleep rounds at them! Go!"

07:39 AM (Bermuda Time)…

"… I got the file and some news, Master…"

"What news?"

"Did we hire some "Court of Owls" to assassinate Rainon?"

"Court of Owls, ya say~? Nope."

"Then… Who? The assassin was clearly a pro and Rainon only survived through his nanomachines and his fighting skills… They were very good with knives… Their name was "Talon"…"

"Dunno, really. Maybe that bitch got a bad mood and decided to have them killed so they had Twilight hire that guy."

"Ah. It could be, yes…"

"Show me the goods and then reinforce security just in case."

"Roger."

Plasma Man returned to the base and brought news which puzzled the man until he came up with an explanation.

"… Aha-hah! So that's the tale! This guy's not a normal guy… They're a human created artificially 5 years ago! They stayed in cold sleep in some secret Antarctica lab… And then… Data was implanted into their mind through a chip implant… Isaac was created to partner with 'em… And when they woke up on late June they flew straight to the Deadly Pandora base: that's why they're special… Hmpf!"

"And it'd seem Isaac's abilities vary according to the type of opponent and the strategy they use too…" Plasma Man read.

"Whatever. I'll have one of the guys blow them up when D – Day comes: I'll go for the big fishes personally… Vadous… That guy… He's the guy coordinating all these parties… If we take them out then chaos will ensue and we'll take out all defenders one after the other…"

"Latest calculations suggest we could strike this weekend."

"This weekend…? Excellent! The sooner we hit them the better 'cause they won't have enough time to counter us… And dispersing their forces across the world too… Heh! I'm a genius!"

"Huh? Ah! Damn it! Be deleted!"

"Huh? What's the matter, Plasma Man?"

"The file had a damned tracer! It hadn't managed to decode the Cyber World's physical location data yet, luckily enough."

"What could that mean?"

"That they were expecting us to target this data: it could be that they figured out the ID of "Octopus – han" and they've decided to let us hire them in ploy to locate us!"

"Fuck 'em all!"

"We'll have to warn our members to be careful so as to not to get any stickers into them… And to delete any suspicious Viruses nearby too: I'm fed up with Mettools!"

"No wonder, dude… If those things attack in masse and can gravely wound even a jerk of your caliber…"

"I apologize for my outburst, sir."

"Bah! I'm not a perfectionist either… Just bust 'em."

"Roger, sir. What should we do with the hacker?"

"Meh! Going after the jerk will have the "Committee" hounds chase us 'long with those 3 jerks so… Forget 'em!"

"Acknowledged. I shall resume improving the defenses of our Cyber World and the monitoring of all incoming and outgoing data." Plasma Man made a reverence.

"And make sure to start simulating how much time it'll take for the babes to start up and all… I'm starting to get a lil idea…"

"Roger, Master… Glory to Atomic Network!"

20:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Really… Doing it on the shower is fun! Don't you agree on that, Tooru – kun? Heh, heh, heh."

"O~h! A~h! More! I need more!"

"Heh, heh, heh. We need something to shake the stress of the weekend off, yeah… Maybe we can go play at the VR Simulator tomorrow after classes as well… What do you think, Netto – kun?"

"Deal, Saito – niisan."

"O~h…"

Netto, Tooru and Saito were making out while standing inside of the shower: Netto was stuffing his cock into Tooru from the front while Saito did it from behind.

Both Netto and Saito had stuffed an anal vibrator and the beads into them plus clothes pegs in their nipples including Tooru's ones.

"But, really… Those jerks are getting dangerous! Now they sent a pro assassin after Nelaus…"

"Yeah… Their silence was the spookiest part: and let's not talk about their suit either… Yet…"

"Yet…?" Tooru managed to ask.

"They gotta be around our age: they couldn't be taller than a meter and seventy and maybe they were a bit shorter… Nelaus is 169cm tall, I'm 168, Netto – kun is 166 and Tooru – kun is 164… That guy could be about 170 or 173cm tall…" Saito argued.

"True. I hadn't spotted that part… Maybe it's one of those fanatics which are lured into sects and then become remorseless killers…" Netto muttered while frowning.

"Somehow that wouldn't surprise me. The police swept the whole district in a 500 meters radius but it'd seem they fled into the sewers to begin with, anyway…"

"O~h… I'm releasing!" Tooru moaned.

"Go!"

Tooru (who'd been rubbing his cock with the right hand) released and his release tightened Netto and Saito's cocks: they released too and filled Tooru with their stuff.

"Huff, huff… Not bad…" Netto chuckled.

"Yeah… We needed it… Ah… Refreshing!" Saito exclaimed.

"It was refreshing for me too… Do you think there's gonna be a Halloween party this year too?"

"Why not? I could disguise as Frankestein!"

"I'd rather pick The Joker… Ironic, isn't it?" Saito giggled.

"Well… I think I'd go for Lobezno of the X-Men…" Tooru admitted.

"What would Meiru – chan pick this year? Last year she picked Hermione from _Harry Potter_… And Yaito – chan picked to be a "Zombie Queen" which she invented… Dekao could only think of disguising as Guts Man in the first place…" Netto wondered.

"Maybe "Demon Queen"?" Saito tried to guess.

"Could do… Last year I picked Eskimo based on Ice Man…"

"Last year… I tried copying the Black Magician but I didn't have enough time to do the full suit so I only did the armlets and helmet plus the staff: I really need a simpler disguise this year…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"Heh! I disguised as an angel. They should invent an Angel PKMN." Saito suggested with a grin.

"Sure, sure…" Netto didn't seem to find it funny.

"Skeptical Netto – kun came~?" Saito teased.

"Please…" Tooru didn't find it funny either.

"Well? What poses do we do next?"

"Hmmm… I'll be middle and in my fours… Saito – niisan can go in and I'll give Tooru – kun a blowjob he deserves…"

"Alright, Netto – kun. I'll be borrowing the beads and a spare vibrator as well…" Tooru looked animated.

"Go ahead."

Tooru removed Netto's beads as he got into his fours and stuffed them into his own ass: he picked a stopped vibrator from a shelf and turned it on as he stuffed it into him: Netto began to lick Tooru's cock to get it hard and took it into his mouth while Saito began to pump in and out of his ass while softly gripping his sides: he and Tooru had gotten down to their knees to be at Netto's height.

"Ah! Netto – kun… It feels good!" Tooru gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh… His ass feels good too. I slide back and forth!" Saito giggled next.

Saito picked Netto's cock with the right hand and began to rub it while he used his left hand to tease his balls: Tooru reached forward and began to pull Netto's clothes pegs to excite him: he increased the sucking pace and Tooru's moans grew louder.

"I'm coming!"

"Heh! I can see he's coming too… There you go, Netto – kun!"

Tooru released and filled Netto's mouth: Netto released too and his release tightened his inner muscles around Saito's cock so he filled him up as well: Saito looked excited at the feeling.

"Ah… Superb! Netto – kun feels SO good… No wonder Forte, Shirakami and Oriol wanted to have sex with him… Heh, heh, heh!"

"Fu~h! Talk about how Legato's giant cock drove you mad back then, Saito – niisan!" Netto teased back once Tooru removed the cock from his mouth and he grinned.

"A 3-guys-only game… It's incredible!" Tooru giggled.

21:21 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… You did very well."

"Yet I had to run."

"I ordered you to. Are you questioning my orders?"

"No, Master. It's just that…"

"Sometimes it's better to run and live another day than do die as fool for trying to recklessly charge in."

"Ah! That's right, Master."

"And the point was to set the fear on them: not to kill them. It's a teaser of what's to come… I've spoken with IQ – sama and we'll pretend she's fed up with the whole deal and wants them dead so she had me approach an assassins' sect and send them after you from time to time… Or send their best one…"

"I'm surprised with myself… I didn't think I'd reach that good of a level in just 3 days… But starting at dawn and only making a pause for a quick lunch before continuing until moon-rise… That was using time wisely and my own passion fueled me…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… That's real training!"

The "Talon", or, rather, Philip (given how he'd taken off the hood and goggles to reveal his face) was kneeling in front of Twilight who now wore a black robe with a hood over his clothes and hid most of his face in the shadows of the hood: he looked disappointed at first but then Twilight brought up an argument which made him get amused.

"So he can't bleed to death from simple wounds because the nanomachines would heal them at a mad speed…"

"Yeah. IQ – sama decided to use the system: I've granted it to you too because it also provides 24/7 data on your body health…"

"And what if they start searching but figure out there's never been such a sect to begin with, Master?"

"Good question! It's simple. They'll reach the conclusion that this "Talon" is yet another rip-off of the future… I've travelled across Time-Space, as I told you, and saw an alternate future… After my "bunshin" got decimated on Planet Zenay III… I fled to Earth's area and simply collected a lot of data regarding stuff up to the year 2015… I wanted to build a database of characters and concepts I could use because they can't expect them and won't know of them for years… The "Talon" and the "Court of Owls" _will_ be featured in Bat-man comics in about 3-4 years from now… The reason I had you become a "Talon" has a meaning."

"Can I know it, Master?"

"Sure! See, this Court of Owls has existed in Gotham City even before it was called Gotham, even before the war with King Land… They've always used the circus to spot young athletes and then train them in a harsh manner to make them ruthless, fearless and agile… Using a special alchemy they can regenerate tissue, bone and cells from wounds and they can be placed into something akin to cold sleep… Thus their army of "Talons" built up… Until the time came to wake all of them up and conquer Gotham City… You know about Dick Grayson?"

"The 1st Robin who'd later become "Night-wing"…"

"He was destined to become the next "Talon"…!"

"Yikes."

"But the death of his parents and his adoption by Bruce Wayne changed things… And the only weakness the "Talons" have is cold. The cold paralyzes their bodies and stops their regenerating abilities… Even Bat-man had trouble dealing with them… And he had to count on many other allies to try to stop those crowds…" He chuckled.

"I see…! So I'm like I was a circus acrobat who was chosen and then trained to be one of their "Talons"…! Fitting…!"

"Isn't it, Darth Bapgei? Now… Let's see how long _kyoudai_ takes to reach a conclusion about this… You can't be suspected. They won't suspect you!"

"Because they will think it was a program… What cunning! Heh, heh, heh!"

20:32 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So. Omega. Did you find anything down there?"

"Apart from rats, mice and debris…? No. Their thermal footprints were inexistent because the water there is cold and erased them: I know where they entered from but I didn't find any exit in that 600 meters radius I explored… Even with Zero helping me the Akihara City sewer system is too grand for just the two of us to fully explore…"

"That guy had to be a pro… The way he attacked, knowing where his attacks would land at…"

"Their silence was another proof… Yet I think they were toying with Nelaus instead of going straight for the killing blow…"

"True. I hadn't thought of that."

"Yay! Trill beat "Dark Mind"! Yay!"

"Trill! Don't run across the Central Hub alone!"

"What's "Dark Mind", Omega?"

"Oh. He means the GBA game Star Kirby: Great Mirror Labyrinth… It's a game for all ages so…"

Vadous was discussing the evening's events that had happened with Omega when Trill's echoing voice rang out along with his giggling and running through the metallic grid on both sides of the floor plus Iris' scolding voice and her running after Trill.

"Oh well. If it's just that… But we need to figure out what's going on: did Atomic Network hire that guy or is that a tactic by Twilight to try to confuse us too…" Vadous muttered.

"It could be… Or a rip-off of a yet-to-be-developed-character…"

"Huff. Then it wouldn't surprise me. I wonder where that guy would fit in, though… A weird assassin, some court of owls… Owls…? Maybe it's supposed to be involved in _Bat-man_… I think owls sometimes hunt bats as well…? So maybe these guys will make Ra's al Ghul look pale…"

"It sounds rather plausible."

"It's obvious that any Atomic Network guys who show up again in the upcoming days are gonna start using those "Atomic Chips" to power up and we must be careful: they could bring reinforcements with them so we should send groups of 2 at the very least and prepare backups…" Vadous suggested a strategy.

"Sounds solid enough… Solid Snake." He made a pun.

"Jeez. And here I thought you were serious."

"Come on… I felt like it… For once…" He shrugged.

"Well. If it's for once then I don't really mind that, Omega…"

BOOP – BEEP – BUUP – BIIP – BAAP!

"Oh no." Omega sighed.

"What was THAT?"

"Dragon's newest email tune…" He rolled his eyes.

"Jeez. And what's the newest banner?"

"Hufff. You don't wanna know, Boss. For real." Omega sighed.

"Is is THAT BAD?" Vadous looked like he couldn't believe it.

"Don't say I didn't warn you beforehand."

"What, I'll grown a beard or what?" Vadous randomly guessed.

"No… "When the moon rises and the sun sets, on that magic moment, Hell's Door opens wide and the Demon Tribe comes out to reap souls and heads and gold. Beware of the treacherous Twilight, oh traveler. You have been warned. Xing Fu."…"

"And who the heck is "Xing Fu"?"

"I asked Dragon and he said that it was Confucius' lil bro…"

"Confucius' lil bro…? I'm not sure if I should believe it or not."

"I rather think Twilight wrote it like that to bring vain glory to his ugly and repellent hide. As if he could scare us. Luckily Trill can't read Chinese because he doesn't have a translator system installed on him: Iris can but said nothing yet she seemed to find it stupid from her look." Omega explained next with a sigh.

"No wonder… First we had the crazy Choina guy who quoted Lao Tzu and tried to cut off Nelaus' head… And now this… Really… What's up with everyone quoting ancient Choina philosophers?"

"Dunno. The world's gone mad, I guess."

"Undoubtedly…"

PONG! PANG! PUNG! PENG! PING!

"Another alarm? What's it this time around?" He exasperatedly asked to Omega.

"Huff. His anti-virus "Updating Completed" melody…"

"Why couldn't he choose the Mario SFX of hitting a block and getting a coin, anyway?"

"Maybe I could try to convince him… But yesterday he argued that they were "very spiritual melodies"…"

"Spiritual melodies… I think I'm regretting more than ever hiring that guy to begin with… But if Trill likes meeting him then it's not like I can kick him out just like that…" Vadous sounded defeated today.

"Yeah… Look: you're stressed, Boss… Why don't you try having at least 7 hours' rest and Kir Osh and I will handle any emergencies? It's not like they'll all come to try to hit us at the same time… It'd leave too many chances for their capture and location of their hideout…"

"Guess you're right… I'm off to nap a while… Handle the field." Vadous stood up and began to walk out.

"Good night, Boss. Take a rest, OK?"

_We gotta be fresh to tackle the enemy… Come! I'll deny you guys! Hah!_


	15. Chapter 15: Nocturnal confrontation

**Chapter 15: Nocturnal confrontation**

23:03 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday October the 7th…

"… Guts, guts! Guts Man beat the WWW Team!"

"Yeah! And this time around my Mugen Vulcan Folder worked! Not even Needle Man could stand up to it!"

"Guts, guts. Number Man's advice helped, Dekao!"

"Higure – san can give out nice advice! And now! My new Mugen Breaker Vulcan Folder will PULVERIZE Sigma!"

"Guts, guts."

"Let's tell Meiru – chan: she'll praise me!"

"Guts, guts. Guts Man will call Roll – chan!"

Dekao was chuckling aloud while working with his house's computer and Guts Man was dancing around too.

"Yo! Meiru – chan!"

"Dekao – kun… What do you want? I was about to go sleep! Tomorrow's a Wednesday and there are classes, you know." Meiru questioned with some annoyance.

"I beat the WWW Team and Needle Man with my Mugen Vulcan Folder: you're gonna praise me?"

"Oh yeah? They surely lost to you in purpose to shake you off. Like 3 years ago!" She was far from impressed.

"E~H! NO WAY~!" He gasped.

"Way, Dekao – kun. You're too slow to catch on."

"Don't be so cruel, Meiru – chan!"

"I'm not being cruel. I just tell the truth. Truth can be cruel but you can't hide from it and build up another "truth" fitting to you. That's what tyrannies and dictatorships do."

"Guts Man! I thought Aki – chan wanted you to protect her?" Roll told him over the line in the meanwhile.

"UO~H! Guts Man must protect Aki – chan tomorrow!"

"When will you learn to use some strategies?"

"But Mugen Vulcan spawning…!"

"Is lazy: easy to make and easy to do but you don't bother to back it up with other types of Battle Chips." Meiru shot back.

"No way!"

"Netto has always used a Folder with varying Chips which is fit to an opponent if they have an obvious weakness. Why don't you try looking up to him, Tooru – kun or Nelaus – kun? Or try to have Chisao – kun tell you how a Net Battle is fought like. He surely has built up a database by now and is training his Navi. He's already 12, you know."

"12! My lil Chisao is already 12? I hadn't realized!"

"Well. He doesn't seem to grow too much like Yaito – chan but you shouldn't judge people by size. The first day we met Rock Man you laughed at his size but he easily defeated Guts Man without having to sweat even. Netto had been disappointed at a first glance but then he forgot that…" Meiru argued next.

"No way…!"

"Way. Good night. See you tomorrow at 8 AM."

"Bye."

"Oi! Wait! Meiru – chan! Damn! I'll defeat Netto tomorrow at school!"

"Guts, guts! Guts Man will do it!"

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… You won't… 'Cause I've come to reap you lowlife's soul… Write you will… Your soul will join countless souls wandering in the blood-stained "Dark Sea"…!"

"GATTSU~!"

07:47 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday October the 8th…

"… I'm the unluckiest guy in the world, Meiru – cha~n!"

"Oh yeah? You mean yesterday?"

"Yeah! Guts Man is cursed!"

"Cursed? Oh come on."

"Tee, heh, heh. That'd be my handiwork."

"I don't think so, Miss Ayanokouji."

"Tee, heh, heh. That "Miss" title sounds nice, Nelaus – chan!"

"Please…"

"Guts Man got assaulted by someone!"

"Really?"

"Who was it?"

The 3-A class members gathered in the classroom next morning: Dekao began by crying, Meiru wasn't impressed, Tooru was skeptical, Yaito pulled a joke, Nelaus looked dry and then Dekao let out what had happened to the surprise of the twins.

"Dunno… They were very fast and they hit and ran! They said something about reaping souls…"

"Demon Scythe!" Nelaus realized.

"Wasn't that an Atomic Network member?"

"Sure… Shadow Man caught the guy trying to strike more Navis down: the guy has a _shinigami_ complex."

"Lovely. How did Guts Man end up like?"

"Heavily wounded… The Science Labs are still working on repairing him ever since last evening…"

"What happened?" Someone asked.

A student having brown hair and sky blue eye irises approached them out of curiosity coming from outside.

"Ah! Arashi Masuko – kun… From B Class… Are you familiar with him? He joined us this year, like Nelaus – kun."

"Has something happened?"

"Guts Man got attacked by one of those Atomic Network freaks…"

"Guts Man! Is he alright?"

"He got injured and is recovering on the Science Labs… I always get into trouble with these guys… Starting with that Burner Man guy…"

"Huh! 3 minutes left… Sorry. Gotta go back to my classroom…"

Arashi left the classroom while the students got to their posts and began to draw out their notebooks, textbooks and pens: a teacher came in.

"Alright. I'll check… Ayanokuoji?"

"_Hai~_!"

"Hikari Brothers?"

"_Hai_~!"

"Hikawa?"

"_Hai~_!"

"Ooyama?"

"Ou!"

"Rainon?"

"_Yes_!"

"Sakurai?"

"_Hai_~!"

"Good. Let's begin today's Math lesson."

08:18 AM (Japan Time)…

"… You're suspicious."

"Huh? Me? Suspicious…? Why?"

"'Cause you're ugly…! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Oi, _Danna_… Is that some local joke or what?"

"Heh! Who knows?"

"Jeez. Sigma. Don't pick on guys you don't know just to have fun."

Sigma had begun to joke upon the bulky Security Navi who had been seen in Melbourne a few days ago (this time around their color palette was black and yellow as if to make him look different) but Blood Shadow didn't find it funny.

"Did you see a Navi with a scythe?" Blood Shadow asked.

"Yeah… Last night… They ran out from somewhere in a blur and vanished in the direction of the Akihara Hospital Cyber World… There's that bridge over there…"

"Ah. So he jumped straight into the Reverse Cyber World…" Blood Shadow calmly deduced.

"To meet Mr. Spooky~!"

"Jeez. Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing."

"You're tough and not tough!" Sigma joked.

"MOVE IT!" Blood Shadow complained.

He pushed Sigma forward while the Navi looked surprised at their behavior: they shrugged.

"Operator's got business so I've got free time… I'll go investigate more about yesterday's attack… Let flame bite me if it wasn't that Demon Scythe mouse…" He muttered.

"His stuff gotta be HUGE!"

"JEEZ!"

"Yours is SMALL!"

"MOVE IT!"

"Those two guys are weird, really…" The Navi muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh! The _Ninja Idiom Curse_ has been engaged!"

"Shadow Man. So? Where's your rival?" Blood Shadow asked.

"Guess wandering the _Naraku_…"

"Be serious. The guy's done in 111 Navis insofar!"

"Oh really? Then we should remind them who the _Sheriff_ is and that we don't tolerate that kind of behavior."

The Navi hid by leaning their back against a building and glanced at how Blood Shadow, Sigma and Shadow Man were talking.

"I foresee a great calamity… Neko Virus V2008!"

"No way…" Blood Shadow groaned.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… Bring it on! Meow!"

"The red kid seems to be the only one who's serious…"

"Hello there… What's the status, Unit B?" Someone asked the Navi through a radio band.

"Ah! AM – dono. Well. I'm looking at those guys who are trying to get a hold of Demon Scythe but Shadow Man only seems to want to troll instead of helping somehow…" He reported.

"Somehow I was expecting it… Priest – sama doesn't mind these guys but I agree that they're overdoing it, really. And beware of any suspicious Mettools around you: we don't want Twilight to notice us!"

"Huh! Good point, AM – dono. Well… My scanners say there aren't any."

"Good. But check the IR and UV bands too just in case. Let's hope Twilight's attention is focused on these savages."

"By the way, I wanted to bring up something…"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Well… You know… Present's Net Navi… His initials…"

"Are the same as mine…? Hum… Then call them WM." "AM" settled after thinking about it.

"WM? Weapon Man? Well. Why not. Even if someone is listening they think it's a joke or that they have some hyper cool advanced weapon instead of such a crude weapon…" The Navi muttered.

"… Shadow Man. The Court of Owls has sentenced you to die."

"Huh! The freak which attacked Nelaus! I knew it! It _was_ a program!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… Owl Man Strikes Back From Nowhere At All."

"Oh? And you lowlife want to match blades with me? So be it."

The "Talon" had appeared there and had two knives drawn and placed horizontally while silently facing Shadow Man: he drew his _katana_ and aimed it at the guy who didn't move an inch: Shadow Man tackled towards him and the guy quickly ducked and the stood up to open two vertical parallel cuts on the flanks of Shadow Man's body which began to leak out data but that didn't stop him and he swung the _katana_ yet the "Talon" blocked it with their short sword before jumping into a nearby building's façade and throwing eight knives from each hand given how they'd already sheathed the short blade: they met Shadow Man but it turned out to be a "bunshin" and the real one jumped atop the guy's back and had them fall into the ground: Shadow Man aimed the _katana_ at their neck from behind.

"So? Atomic Network sends you?"

The guy suddenly extended their arms backwards and clutched Shadow Man's _katana_ to pull it forward: Shadow Man lost balance.

"Huh! Clever!"

The assassin quickly stood up and got to their feet while drawing both short blades and crossing them before swinging around their axis anti-clockwise and opening two parallel wounds on Shadow Man's body at the height of his shoulders and below the chest mail: Shadow Man didn't lose his cool and got into a defensive position.

"More! Hurt him more! More! MORE~! MORE~!" Some voices suddenly rang out.

Blood Shadow and Sigma looked around to see several men and women wearing business suits or simplistic suits and having simplistic white owl masks over their faces (they just had the eyes' shape and the beak) looking on as if they were spectators: a little girl who surely wasn't 10 yet was holding a plushy with a mask on it too.

"Hurt him more!" The girl commanded.

"My pleasure, my lady!" The assassin eagerly acknowledged.

"Now talk about creepy. A little girl wants this guy to harm Shadow Man further. And those masks are creepy too." Blood Shadow muttered with a hint of fear.

"Yikes. I don't feel like laughing either. But then… Why would Atomic Network bother to include those?" Sigma argued.

"Hum. Then Boss' theory that Twilight is doing this to create confusion amongst us could be true… He's gotta be spoiling us A LOT."

"MO~RE~! MORE! MORE!"

"Hurt him like this?"

The "Talon" suddenly dashed and drove his blade through Shadow Man's stomach area before lifting him and bending his body backwards as if he was exhibiting a trophy.

"MORE! MORE! MORE!"

"Like this? As you wish, my Court!"

"MORE! MORE! MORE!"

"Hmpf!"

Shadow Man warped and left a Giga Count Bomb on his stead: the "Talon" jumped into the air to dodge but then Shadow Man made a cut across their back's height: data began to leak out.

"Hmpf. You might be good against a human opponent… But you're dealing with a _ninja_!" Shadow Man taunted.

The "Talon" got silent again and merely swung around to throw eight knives into Shadow Man which made contact but he then ignored them: Shadow Man cut off their right arm at the shoulder but it suddenly regenerated.

"What! This must be programmed using those annoying jellyfish opponents as basis!" He realized.

"As if we didn't have enough headaches..." Blood Shadow grumbled.

"Say, Blood… The spectators are gone…"

"Hmpf. Don't mind it, Sigma."

"You disappoint me, Dark Miyabi. Is this the best my great-grandson could teach to his disciple?" The "Talon" suddenly asked.

"W-what?" Miyabi uttered.

"I am not just a mere assassin… I am your great-grandfather! Sayanga Miyabi."

"But he's supposed to have died when he went off sailing one stormy July night over a century ago!" Miyabi argued back.

"The Court preserved me through their alchemy."

"… I think that the grace to these "Talons" is that they are of different historical ages but they somehow survived until modern times. If Ra's al Ghul could with his "Lazarus Pits"…" Blood Shadow argued.

"Ah! So it's a trap to distract me. Damned smug _ronin_."

"You yourself are the _ronin_ fallen into never-ending disgrace!"

"Shut up. You lowlife are but a mere program! Shadow Man! Don't mind their programming and just finish them off. I got a message from Zero saying he's handling the investigation on Demon Scythe."

"Roger, Miyabi… Come at me, you foul program."

"Hah! I can't die! I'm immortal!"

"Wrong."

Shadow Man suddenly cut off their neck and their head hit the floor: the body hit the floor next and both began to burn up until only cinders were left which were blown off by the wind.

"Hmpf. It was barely worth as heating up…" Shadow Man muttered as he sheathed the _katana_.

"Ah! Look there!" Blood Shadow signaled.

They spotted a pack of 8 Mettools with their numbers ranging from 21 to 28 looking on from above a building.

"Legion 64, huh." Sigma grumbled.

"Camera Man." Shadow Man muttered with some sarcasm.

"Hmpf." Miyabi was unimpressed.

"Me-me-tto~!"

They all fled the scene and the four of them sighed in relief while the bulky Navi labeled "Unit B" whistled.

"Did you see it, AM – dono?"

"By all the… The guy's getting serious again. No good. We must be on our toes: I'll start by upgrading security. Don't intervene! The time's not ripe yet: our main research still needs some time to be completed and then we can begin field testing… Some months are needed!"

"Roger. I don't mind waiting… But that guy WAS spooky…! Hell!"

22:42 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… There… I'll reap your soul!"

"Objection."

CLANG!

"Fuck. Zero! You lowlife!"

"That's my motto, Demon Scythe."

"I've improved! Death Rain!"

"Oh yeah? You call that an improvement? I name it improvisation."

Demon Scythe had been lurking in an alley and had been about to attack a pedestrian Navi when Zero's sword hit his scythe and blocked him: the Navi ran off while Zero confronted the guy who'd come up with bluish/white fireballs raining down from the sky and exploding upon contact with the floor: Zero was far from impressed.

"So. Your Master is Count Poison."

"Count Poison? What rubbish is that?"

"Dooku was based on the Japanese word "doku" or "poison" as in Poison PKMN." Zero taunted back.

"GHRKZH!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Martian V 9.99?"

"DAMN YOU~!"

"_Clichéd_."

"Scythe Hit!"

His scythe glowed and he hit the ground with it thus forming pillars of flames which shot skywards: Zero merely turned transparent and vanished to reappear higher in the air and looking down (literally) on his opponent.

"Eat these for a change."

He swung his saber and shot eight emerald green slices of energy in different angles which hit the floor and caused consecutive explosions thus opening a crater there and catching Demon Scythe unaware: he'd fallen inside and debris had half-buried him.

"I was saving this up."

"Fuck! Atomic Chip!"

"Come."

Death Scythe formed the Atomic Chip and flew upwards to clash with Zero again: they began to struggle and the guy suddenly formed a knife the blade of which glowed with a menacing light.

"A Morgul-blade? You're no different from Twilight when it comes to ripping stuff out."

"Die!"

"Wrong."

Zero warped again and shot the slices: Demon Scythe blocked them off with his weapon but each hit forced him to recoil until he hit a building's front and formed a dent there: he growled and threw the knife at Zero who simply flew skywards and let it fall into the floor: Death Scythe then glowed with an orange glow.

"Demon Bunshin!"

"Hah. A mockery of Shadow Man next…? How lame…"

"DIE~!"

"Wrong."

The "bunshins" tried to hit Zero but he vanished and left a Giga Count Bomb there which had already finished counting down: it went off and blew up all "bunshin" enemies plus propelling Demon Scythe against the wall again: he growled and madly dashed forward to swing his scythe: he managed to leave a cut on Zero but he wasn't affected or didn't seem to mind it to begin with.

"Hah! I hurt you!"

"And so what…? Do you think one meek wound will halt me?"

"What? You're supposed to be feeling agony!"

"And what if I've trained myself to ignore pain?"

"Fuck! Why didn't Plasma Man think of that?"

"Dunno. Maybe he thinks too much and his brain becomes smoke." Zero shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"FUCK YOU~!"

He began to attack and wound Zero several times without noticing a purplish glow building up on his sword: Zero's eyes suddenly produced a yellowish flash and he emitted a purplish shockwave of energy which pushed the guy into the ground: Zero dropped down into the ground as well and let the guy attack him further blinded by his rage.

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Craving your own grave~!"

"I wonder about that. Maybe you need someone to check if you've got myopia or not." Zero dully replied.

"What?"

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"MUGRKU~H!"

The returned damage formed a wound on Demon Scythe's robe and body below it and the energy of the Atomic Chip began to leak out: he groaned and managed to get to his feet.

"I'll cut off your NECK!"

"Ah. So the Beijing madman was your idea."

"AND WHAT IF!"

"Then I've got another reason to teach you a lesson. Which you aren't going to forget anytime soon either…"

Zero let him approach and suddenly extended his right hand to shoot a stream of greenish energy which hit Demon Scythe and pushed him back until he crashed with another wall.

"You're getting used to the walls? Or are you becoming one with them?"

"Damn you~…! Ugh! My HP values have gone down below the 11% mark by now! But I can still MINCEMEAT YOU!"

"Come! Jack The Ripper!" Zero challenged.

"I'll RIP YOU TO SHREDS!"

Zero let him come and merely stepped to the left while extending his right foot: Demon Scythe couldn't cancel his speed build-up and tripped with the leg falling into the previous crater: he groaned and shot skywards from the rubble while howling.

"Eat these, these AND THESE!"

He formed his "Devil" Viruses and shot them at Zero but he simply glowed with a faint white glow and repelled them before gripping one with the left hand and making that hand glow with blue light: all "Devil" Viruses suddenly gained navy blue color and they began to swarm and attack Demon Scythe.

"A lil cheat code named "hmusurp" from Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, you see. Sometimes these things come in handy." Zero calmly told him while folding his arms.

His wounds began to heal while Demon Scythe cursed and tried to shake off his own Viruses off his body: he formed a ring of expanding purple energy and destroyed them before hitting the floor with the weapon and forming 9 purplish wheels with saw-like edges: they began to cut across the ground and head for Zero but he merely made his blade hum and neatly cut all of them in half one row after the other without having to do any real effort.

"High-Frequency Blade." He let out.

"Gotcha~!"

Death Scythe rushed in and began to swing the scythe but Zero calmly began to draw cuts across the air to cut the thing into mere pieces which hit the floor: Demon Scythe looked at it with obvious disbelief and then cursed as he punched floor.

"You got lucky! I'll have your soul next time around!"

The trap-door formed and he vanished as the pieces of his weapon got deleted: Zero shrugged.

"Sorry for the mess." He muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

He warped out but failed to spot Zoan Gate Man looking on from a nearby rooftop and chuckling under his breath.

"How frail, truly." He muttered with obvious amusement.

"Hah! I'm preparing a shameful end for the fool who started this up: IQ – sama has decided it!" Twilight exclaimed through the radio.

"Wasn't he quoting Han Solo?" Philip wondered aloud in the background.

"Huh? Oh! True. Heh! Zero can be an amusing jerk too… Heh!"

"So? What's the plan?" Freeze Man asked.

"Heh! We'll simply keep on gathering data and looking on: maybe I can send something else to taunt them or spoil them. And I got approached by someone intriguing… Someone who told me of an intriguing upcoming project… And would like to have some input because it involves a Navi with a peculiar behavior… They need some materiel… And I'll be glad to provide it to them… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Oh? That's intriguing, Master." Philip sneered.

"Ain't it, Darth Bapgei? Zoan Gate Man: pull out and leave it up to the Mettools to gather the rest of the data… Heh, heh, heh…"

Zoan Gate Man chuckled under his breath and pulled out while the pack of 8 Mettools appeared there and began to look around.

"_Kyoudai_… This ain't over… Not by a long shot… Feel the despair! Hah!"


	16. Chapter 16: Sub plot

**Chapter 16: Sub – plot**

17:11 PM (Japan Time), Thursday October the 9th…

"… There's six of them right there, huh…"

"The Hexagon Gang?"

"Jeez."

"Heh, heh, heh. It's funny to imagine your face, Netto – kun."

"CF" Netto was glancing from a corner to see if the corridor he was going to traverse was populated: he stepped back and leant his back against the bare concrete wall.

"Jeez. Do you have any suggestions?" Netto rolled his eyes.

_Try beer._ Saito suggested.

_Why not? It'll surely work._

"CF" Netto smiled and a can of Red Bull beer materialized on his right hand: he crouched and placed it on the ground.

"One…"

He materialized another two and also placed them on the ground.

"Two and three…"

When the three of them were ready, he gently pushed them ahead and made them roll across the ground towards the guards.

"There you have, _dudes_."

The six guards stopped their chatting and aimed their weapons, AN – 94 assault rifles, at the cans: they holstered them a second later.

"Look! There's Red Bull! And it's for free!" One told the others.

"Huh… There are only three of them… We'll have to share a can per every two of us…" A second realized.

"I'm not gonna share anything! I saw it firstly! So it's mine!"

"Bring it on, Joe!" A fourth challenged.

"Ye think ye can get away with it, Tony?" A fifth asked.

"Let's beat them!" A sixth added.

They began to quarrel amongst themselves while they rolled across the ground punching each other and clouds of smoke formed: curses and yells could be heard from within.

"T-this MORON!"

"T-this JERK!"

"T-this FOOL!"

"T-this SUNNUVA!"

"T-this BITCHY GUY!"

"T-this WOMANIZER!"

"CF" Netto ran past them and climbed up a set of stone stairs to the next level: he was muffling his laughter.

_They're quarrelling over Red Bull beer… _

_They're so stupid, really…_

He glanced through the corner and spotted a soldier who had two medals on his uniform: he was pacing back and forth in front of an open door in a nervous manner.

_Hum! That's a Commander Rank! He won't fall for the same trick._

_Netto – kun! Remember what guys like him _always_ desire…_ Saito told him with an eager voice tone.

_I get the idea. _

He cleared his throat and then opened a door after he hid besides it.

"Attention, please! Commander Virtual! You have been granted the Medal for the Disciplined Soldier!"

"Really?"

"Come to claim it at the Captain General's Office!"

"Y-YES, SIR!"

The Commander ran towards the room the door of which "CF" Netto had opened: "CF" Netto slammed it shut and took out a Flame Sword.

"Time for some decoration of my own…"

He melted part of the lock so that the Commander would be unable to escape the room.

"What's this? There's no one! Is this a hidden camera show? Where's the camera? Am I on the screen? Do I look commanding? Do I need to put make-up on?" The Commander wondered aloud.

"Firm!" Someone inside commanded.

"Y-YES, SIR!"

"Did you shave today?"

"Y-YES, SIR!"

"Did you wash your teeth with the mandatory tooth paste?"

"Y-YES, SIR!"

"Did you take care of your hygiene, son?"

"Y-YES, SIR!"

"Good! Then follow me!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Guess Sigma felt subtle~…"

"I don't think that's being subtle but I can bear with it." Saito muttered with a hint of skepticism.

"OK! Let's wrap up this VR Mission and go to Internet City: we'll have a chat with Number Man and Higure – sama~… Heh, heh, heh!"

18:59 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Welcome to Higureya! How may I help you with?"

"It's us, Number Man."

"Yo."

"Ah! It's nice to see you around often, Rock Man. And this guy is your pal Blood Shadow. Right?"

"Yeah, Number Man. You can plainly call me "Blood" if you want to make it shorter."

Rock Man and Blood Shadow stepped into the Internet City Higureya locale and got greeted by Number Man.

"We wanted to know if Higure – san has made any progress in becoming a "shining man"..." Rock Man brought up.

"Oh. _That_ topic… There's just _no_ accursed way! Yamitarou is more stubborn than a panda when it comes to that topic!" He replied while being obviously exasperated.

"Has Commander Beef tried to strangle him already?" Blood Shadow asked with a hint of amusement.

"Of course he tried! Lucky for us Mr. Miyabi came and kicked that rude man away. But it was something close, really." He sighed in relief.

"We get the idea. We'll try to help you out in keeping him at bay."

"Thanks for the help. Maybe we need some kind of incentive from Mariko – sensei… You know… Like going to do something…" Number Man suddenly suggested.

"Maybe we could go play bowling again? This time there sure won't be interruptions caused by Bowl Man." Rock Man suggested next.

"Yeah. Yamitarou learned his lesson. We're not going to try to cheat again."

"Oh. Of course… The Darkloid Bowl Man Incident…"

"De masu! It's come, de masu!"

"What's come, Yamitarou?"

"My good luck charm…! De masu~!"

"Good luck charm?" Even Netto seemed to be skeptical.

"A golden Battle Chip!" Sigma joked.

"Jeez." Blood Shadow didn't find it funny.

"Oh come on." Rock Man sighed.

"Correct, de masu! A golden and shining Battle Chip! DE MASU~!"

"Huh… Trouble, I guess…" Shuuko muttered.

"Pyurururu! Rock Man! Welcome again!"

"Hey. Aqua Man. Did you go playing with Ice Man?"

Aqua Man stepped into the store and Rock Man smiled as he crouched to talk with him.

"Yeah! Pyu! Aqua Man and Ice Man had fun! Trill came, pyu!"

"Oh yeah. We established a Warp Point directly to a small "base" where Aqua Man and Ice Man play at… Trill is getting along with them: he needed someone of his age to interact with." Blood Shadow explained to Rock Man.

"That's nice."

"Yo! Higure Yamitarou! Uoratimay Erugih is coming back to visit you with a scare and a vengeance~!" Sigma joked.

"KYA~H! DE MASU~!"

CRASH!

"Oh. He collapsed." Shuuko muttered with a hint of surprise.

"De masu~… I'm cursed, de masu… It's the _sushi _curse, de masu… I'll never eat cheap _sushi_ again, de masu… Mariko – sensei~… De masu…"

"Huff. Let's go back already. See ya, Number Man."

"Keep an eye over that chap." Blood Shadow whispered.

"Of course!" He confirmed.

"Higure – san… Guess he ate bad _sushi_ and got stomach-ache…" Netto guessed with a sigh.

"Heh! Wait 'till Shadow Man listens to this, my chap." Sigma laughed inside of the PC.

"There you were!"

"A rematch…! _Chibi_ guy…!"

"Huh? You two… Ah. I remember. The Crushing Military Brothers? Last time we met was the day Nebula began their campaign… Saturday February the 4th, 2005…"

The Crushing Military Brothers had showed up on the street and tried to loom over Rock Man but since he'd grown in height they weren't so tall anymore: they still had that confident face to them.

"A rematch…? What do you think, Netto – kun?"

"Let's go for it: we've grown stronger. Let's show them."

"OK. Then let's go for it."

"Heh! We'll be waitin' at the Coliseum…"

"Don't be late!"

Both ran away and Rock Man and Blood Shadow calmly followed them into the stadium: Rock Man headed for the field and didn't spot a curious spectator in one of the higher benches.

This spectator could be close to two meters tall and they had a black cloak covering their body: two odd shapes could be guessed on their back given the shape the cloak took.

The cloak included a hood which hid their face and it ended at the ground.

_Hum? Ah! So you finally appeared. Rock Man! I've been waiting for this moment… There's been a lot of turmoil as of late… And those fools have been trying to delete you but failed because they underestimated you but I know better… My strategy will succeed… These years of hard work and lying low will prove to have been worth it…_

"There you are! I'll CRUSH you!"

"I'll GRIND you into DUST!"

"Let the passionate and exciting and cool and high – level duel begin! DE MASU~! Higure Yamitarou, everyone's favorite and excellent commentator, is here! De masu~!"

"Let's show them our best shot! Soul Unison: Omega Soul! Slot In!"

"O~h! De masu~! What a lovely reddish glow! De masu~!"

"YAMITAROU~! SHUT YOUR BEAK!"

Rock Man switched to Omega Soul mode and drew the sword: the opponents merely laughed.

"What's that? Cosplaying?"

"The guy wants to be a girl!"

"Bring it on." Rock Man dully challenged.

"… S-something about the kid's voice tells me it's not a joke."

"D-dunno why I get that feeling too…"

_Hmpf! You herd of fools! You lowlifes don't even realize whom you're facing… He'll defeat you fools before you can even blink twice! Hah! I laugh at such idiocy!_

"Stone Cube!"

"Zeus Hammer!"

Rock Man merely jumped into the air and made his blade hum as he cut his way across the Stone Cubes and easily cut off the front of their armor.

"What! My armor! _Aniki_!"

"What in the…"

Rock Man then used his left hand to grip the core program and electrocuted it: one of the enemies got automatically retrieved while Rock Man calmly dashed forward, circled around the other as he tried to bring down his hammer, and jumped into the air to shoot a plasma round at his armor which hit his core program and had him be retrieved: he calmly landed back on the ground and spun both weapons as he placed the gun into a holster on his back and shut off the saber to place the compacted hilt on the hip sheath.

"DE MASU~! Match over, de masu~! Number Man!"

"Hum! A lightning fast match which clocked at 49 seconds!"

"4-49 seconds?" A spectator Navi gasped.

"Whoa. That guy's something… The level's risen in these last years! This is becoming an arena for the pro!" Another whistled.

_That's true. It's good to see that the strongest are escalating the ranks and banishing the weak to go challenge meek foes. Hum?_

The figure spotted Blood Shadow walking towards his location but he still was about 10 or 12 meters away.

_Blood Shadow. I cannot let my ID be found out… Not yet!_

The figure stood up to their full height and warped out of the building so Blood Shadow headed for the two spectators sitting 3 rows beneath the one the figure had been at.

"Sorry, fellas… Who was that fellow?"

"Oh! You mean Resal?"

"We think he's bounty-hunter."

"You think… He comes here often?"

"From time to time… Sometimes you don't see him in months…"

"How can you know their gender?"

"Oh. They sometimes make a small echoing hollow-like chuckle."

"Small echoing… hollow-like chuckle…? But… You guys are veteran spectators?"

"Sure! We come here at least one day of the week and we've been doing it for these 4 years Internet City's been up… We couldn't when that UFO thing happened… We were lucky and ran out in time!"

"True… And if memory serves… That guy started showing up a while after that 2nd "worldwide Dimensional Area" thing, by the end of summer of the year 2005, yeah…"

"I see… Thanks for the info. No, no problem… I thought it could be a criminal we were chasing but the timeline doesn't match. Sorry to have bothered you guys…"

"Don't mind it, fella…"

"Today was worth it!"

"…speed and grace which remind me of _Swan Lake_, masu…"

"Ya-mi-ta-rou~!" Number Man protested.

"_Swan Lake_…? Oh come on." Blood Shadow sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah Rock Man's got more subtle dancing than yours, Bloody~ Stormy~ Shadowy~!"

"Come on, Sigma… Don't start with the lame jokes again." Netto didn't seem to find it funny.

"And I'll quote Vincent "Red" and his latest motto! "They guy came and didn't came and the guy didn't came and came~!"…"

"That sounds like some poor attempt at improvising a tongue-twister to begin with." Rock Man duly noted.

"…hair which reminds me of a graceful Goddess, masu…" Higure kept on making weird comments.

"YAMITAROU~!"

"Me? I remind him of a _Goddess_?" Rock Man was annoyed by now.

"He's overdoing it, really." Netto agreed on it.

"The envoys of the attic came~!" Number Man howled.

"HUHYA~H! DE MASU~! QUICK, THE RENT MONEY~! DE MASU~!"

"He means the building's owner." Blood Shadow guessed.

"Mwah, hah, hah… The citta syovne came~?"

"Patent that." Blood Shadow tried to shoo Sigma away.

"MO~RE~! MORE~! MORE~! MORE~!"

"Not that silly chorus of voices again… Twilight's laughing at us."

"We saw that battle Shadow Man had… That audience thing was creepy: I'd stake anything they're supposed to appear in a future _Batman _series given their creepiness…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"No wonder…"

"Higure Yamitarou… The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… Exile!"

CRASH!

"Mariko – sensei~! Kami – sama~! De masu~! Save me~!"

"It's a lie, Yamitarou! That's the enemy, Yamitarou!"

"Talk about parodies." Blood Shadow muttered.

"Rock Man, Blood! Plug Out."

Both Navis returned to the firewall entrance and made it inside of the PC: Netto transferred Rock Man from the PET to his body and Saito stretched as he rubbed his eyes.

"Good. I had a chance to stretch… Let's get working on the homework."

"OK. Tomorrow is already Friday, anyway."

20:51 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… So! Your Form II training is progressing."

"Yes, Master. I still have to improve in my foot-work…"

"But you're not that bad… You have a natural instinct to seize a chance and use them and in an elegant manner… Form II allows for quick counters and to deflect instead of meeting the opponent head-on…"

"And since they have no idea of how to counter such a style…"

"Hum. But I think Omega has experimented into recreating Form VII, Vapaad… He could be a dangerous foe yet that guy isn't supposed to involve you… Only Nelaus matters."

"I understand, Master."

"Good. Let's leave it at here for today… You've been sparring ever since 14 PM and you've barely had any breaks… I'm not as demanding as Sidious was with Darth Maul, Darth Bapgei…"

"Thank you very much. I want to devote everything to the training and to my rise…"

"Good, good… But you also deserve some free time… And since you need to keep a low profile then you can continue to meet your companions and pretend nothing's changed… If they ask where you were…"

"At my aunt's farm…"

"Good!"

Philip was kneeling in front of Twilight with a switched off light-saber placed in front of his knees: he was looking up and looked calm while Twilight was amused.

"Yet… Who could've it been?"

"Hmmm?"

"While Master was away I checked the footage of 59 and 60… It showed a mysterious spectator in Internet City Coliseum…"

"Oh? Tell me more."

"Yes, Master. They wore a brownish cloth and a hood and they fled when Blood Shadow tried to come closer… Two spectators let out some info: they "think" they are a bounty hunter, they began to show up over 3 years ago and their name is Resal…"

"Resal… Hmmm… Anything else…?"

"They apparently make echoing hollow-like chuckles from time to time and that's why they knew it was a male Navi."

"Curious… But if they're a mere bounty-hunter then they shouldn't be much of a bother to begin with… What picks me is that "Past" fellow who stormed the club and their master, "Priest"… I still dunno who they are: there's nothing I can do to narrow them down and the Navi doesn't show up anywhere… They surely can change their form too…"

"That man's comments were weird."

"Huh? Ah! Higure Yamitarou's? What did he say this time?"

"Huff. He overdid it."

"Why?"

"He said Rock Man's movements reminded him of _Swan Lake_ and that his Omega Soul's blonde hair reminded him of a _Goddess_…"

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"I dunno why Cloud Man picked the WAV file for the Cyber World "Talon" and instead of "die" he placed "exile"… Higure hit the floor."

"No wonder. Cloud Man can have funny ideas from time to time."

"Number Man had him shut up by saying the envoys of the attic were about to come… That meant to say the owners…"

"Hah! And he forgot he already paid off the fare 8 days ago." Twilight laughed.

"Obviously, Master."

"Hmmm? Ah! A secure call… Gotta reply to it… You do as you like."

Twilight rushed out of the basement room while Philip calmly picked the light-saber and headed upstairs into the ground floor and from there to the 1st floor: he entered a small bedroom.

This bedroom had a bed, a chair and a desk plus a cupboard: he headed straight for the adjacent bathroom and locked it from the inside.

"Phew. I need a good shower to rid me of this sweat."

He took off his clothes and stepped into the shower: he began to test the temperature and when it reached the grade of heat he wished he stopped it to shampoo his head: he then turned it on again and calmly washed his hair.

"Maybe I should go to the hairdresser's…? It's getting annoying to have to spend 10 minutes working on my hair…" He muttered.

He switched off again and applied body lotion: he washed it off too and then picked a towel to dry: he then put on a pair of white briefs and a blue pajama set plus black socks.

"Phew."

He exited the bathroom and put on a pair of slippers while he headed to the ground floor and entered the room with the washing machine: he set it and turned it on.

"Good. When it's done I hang it on the perches and let it dry… My aunt doesn't complain because she thinks I'm staying at a friend's… And there's no way the old man will find me 'cause this district is at least 3 kilometers from theirs… And they're so stupid that they never exit it…" He muttered with a grin.

"… And I say: cloud a clouding cloud!" Cloud Man laughed.

"What's the point, anyway?" Swallow Man asked.

"Dunno, Nam Wollaws!"

"Hmpf! Then I dunno too, Nam Duolc!"

"Cloud Man, Swallow Man! Behave!" Freeze Man commanded to both of them.

"R-roger, Commander Freeze Man."

"Don't interrupt my battle meditation." Yamato Man grumbled with obvious annoyance.

"Oh yeah? Nam Otamay is emulating a "Sith" now?" Cloud Man made a silly joke.

"Hmpf."

"I was revising the battle data and you disturbed me! Will you be quiet, Cloud Man?" Cosmo Man complained.

"Nam Omsoc!"

"CLOUD MAN!"

"Yikes!"

"BE QUIET OR TWILIGHT – SAMA WILL PUNISH YOU BY STORING YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS PROGRAM IN A LOCKED FOLDER!"

"And there I thought they were adult enough." Philip muttered with some surprise.

"Huff! Really. The troublemaker came?" Zoan Gate Man complained.

"Guess that, Nam Etag Naoz." Swallow Man shrugged.

"Swallow Man! Do you want to end up like that too?"

"Yikes! N-no, Commander!"

"Act like a man! Or those imitators will try to make fools out of us!"

"What! Ah! I won't let 'em! No matter what!"

"See my point? Really! You're acting like spoiled brats."

"I have to agree with Freeze Man – sama." Cosmo Man told them.

"We got the lesson!" Both replied.

"I hope so!" Yamato Man muttered.

"So! Nam Eezerf! What's the matter?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight – sama, please…!" He got exasperated.

"My bad. I felt like it… Cloud Man and Swallow Man! If you don't behave I won't grant you the upgrade I've been working on! Gothca?"

"R-roger, sir!"

"Good. I was on the middle of a call and your scandal interrupted me: now be quiet and go wander around! Yeah. Sorry. Believe it or not those two can be brat-like from time to time… Where were at? Ah! Yeah. The Pentagon Scheme…"

_Pentagon Scheme? Do they plan on hitting THE Pentagon? Or does he mean a group of 5 individuals or objects? _Philip wondered.

He headed into the kitchen and opened a cupboard to take out a package of Basmati Indian rice: he served some in a small cup as he picked a small pan and filled it with water which he began to boil.

"3 cups of rice… The tomato sauce… Now… The frying pan and the pig loin pieces… 3 will do fine… While I wait for the water to boil I'll grate some carrot as sides…" He muttered.

He worked on preparing his supper and once all was ready he served it on dishes he placed on a platter along with a cup and a small jar of water which he brought to the living room: he opened the window to let some air flow in as he calmly ate the dinner.

"Higure Yamitarou will end up like Francisco Ibañez's "Rompetechos": the guy with the worst sight on the world! Mistaking a post with banners on it for a Christmas tree~! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!" Cloud Man laughed.

"I'm about to explode~!" Freeze Man hissed.

"Mercy!"

_Ironic… Someone like Cloud Man actually begging for mercy… Guess it's an irony on life… Well. Let's continue with our training! Heh, heh, heh!_


	17. Chapter 17: Before the storm

**Chapter 17: Before the storm**

16:57 PM (Japan Time), Friday October the 10th…

"… So! Number Man. Are you still stuck?"

"Any progress? Did yesterday's scares do something?"

Rock Man was talking with Number Man inside Higureya and Blood Shadow had come with him.

"There's just no goddamned way! I tried to make him go and ask Mariko – sensei for a date: but he wouldn't listen to me! I so want to hit him in the head with something to make him straighten up! And the scares only seem to have fueled up his STUBBORNESS!" Number Man waved his arms around and agitated his whole body and sounded totally exasperated.

"We get the idea. Maybe we should give him a scare. We could tell him that there's going to be competency." Blood Shadow grinned.

"Oh! That'll surely straighten him up! Maybe he'll be more receptive if we do that!" Number Man agreed on it.

"Let's think about it for a little while and we'll then strike." Rock Man grinned.

"Oh. I think there's a far simpler method…" Someone chuckled in the entryway.

"Shadow Man? What are you up to today?"

None of them were surprised to see Shadow Man leaning against the right side of the door's frame and folding his arms while chuckling.

"Just listen…"

"DE MASU~! There's a spider, de masu! It's big, de masu! Someone call the bug exterminators, de masu! Mariko – sensei~! I must go in a date with you, de masu~!" They heard Higure yell since he'd left the Link PET turned on.

"What the heck did he say?" Rock Man looked baffled.

"They let loose a spider in the store?" Number Man wondered.

"Looks like it…" Blood Shadow sounded baffled as well.

"Ninja Speech Curse Brought Forth By Ninja Man."

"Oh come on." The three of them groaned.

"A~H! DE MASU~! Get away, de masu! Die, de masu! Someone help me, de masu! Call the cavalry, de masu! Call the army, de masu!" Higure kept on yelling.

A _trumpet_ sound rang out on the real world.

"Oho! I know who that trumpet belongs to." Rock Man grinned.

"Let's get ready." Blood Shadow grinned as well.

"WHOA! DE MASU! The cavalry has come, de masu! I must stand firm, de masu! Huh? De masu? The spider is gone, de masu! Did the trumpet scare it, de masu?" Higure muttered aloud.

The trumpet sound rang out again.

"Higure Yamitarou: firm!" A voice ordered.

"Roger, Colonel! De masu!"

Rock Man was trying to muffle his laughter: he could perfectly picture the scene.

"Bwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! You fell for it!" They heard a familiar voice burst into laughter.

"Huh? De masu? De masu! You're Senator Morgangantz, de masu!" Higure exclaimed.

"By the way! Did you like the _ninja_ trick of the spider?"

"What, de masu? That spider was a trick, de masu?" Higure's voice asked with obvious surprise.

"Correct. I thought this would help you "descend" back to Earth." A familiar voice added with a sigh.

"Ah! De masu! It's the customer who saved me from that Commander Beef maniac, de masu!" Higure recognized the person.

"My name is Dark Miyabi. You'd do well to remember it, Higure Yamitarou."

"It's now been proven that you clearly aren't a "shining man" at all!" Davis laughed.

"E~H! De masu! How dare you! De masu! I'm a shining man! A spectacularly shining man! De masu!" Higure protested.

"Hmpf… I don't think so. A shining man wouldn't have run from a mere spider." Shadow Man challenged.

"DE MASU~! This is an outrage, de masu! It's an outrage, I'm telling you people, de masu!" Higure was getting pissed off now.

"Hey! Saito – niisan! I'm hearing quite a scandal! What are cha up to?"

Netto opened his communications window and Sigma could be seen "sitting" on his right shoulder while smiling.

"Charles and Dark Miyabi have laid Higure – san a trap to try to test if he really is a "shining man" or not, Netto – kun!" He amusedly reported with a grin on his face.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! That's nice to hear! What was the trap about?" Sigma asked with a grin.

"It'd seem Dark Miyabi has let a spider run wild around the store. He then picked it back and Charles stepped in with his cavalry trumpet."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! That was a very good joint scheme! Leave it to Selrahc to come up with something like that!" Sigma laughed.

"I agree with cha, Sigma." Netto grinned as well.

"NYA~H! GET OUT, DE MASU! I'LL CALL THE SHOTS, DE MASU! OUT, DE MASU~!" Higure roared.

"Bang, bang, Lucky Luke!" Davis laughed.

"DE MASU~! GET OUT, DE MASU! GET OUT OF MY STORE, DE MASU!"

The group giggled or chuckled under their breaths.

"Number Man! Are you in there, de masu? Oh? We have customers, de masu?" Higure opened his communications window.

"It's more like we have _audience_, Yamitarou." Number Man replied with some sarcasm.

"What, de masu?" He frowned.

"We heard everything." Number Man nonchalantly stated.

"E~H, DE MASU?" Higure jumped off the ground from the surprise.

"We did. You're not a "shining man" at all, Yamitarou. At this rate you'll never even manage to throw a bowling ball without making your bones creak." Number Man sighed.

"I can't stand bowling, de masu! Last time I went look what happened, de masu! It was _your_ idea, Number Man!" He tried to waltz outta it.

"Well. That's part of the past as well. I learned my lesson. Did you learn _yours_?" Number Man asked him.

"Huh? De masu? Huh… de masu… That's… de masu…"

"I think we're gonna let them solve this between themselves."

"I agree, Blood. See you around!" Rock Man replied.

"Beware of helmeted dudes!" Sigma laughed.

"That's a good joke!" Netto smiled.

"Jeez. That's enough for one afternoon…" Rock Man sighed.

"Higure Yamitarou! The Court of Rats sentences you to FLEE!"

"KYA~H! DE MASU~!"

"Oh come on! The chicken fainted again? I'm fed up with these "Court of something" jokes already. Go home through the backdoor already! JEEZ!"

17:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oho. So your uncle is Xavier Rainon?"

"Yes, Dr. Wily."

"We went together at college… My. What memories."

"Whoa! I didn't know that one."

"… Ready, Saito – niisan?"

"… Jeez. Alright…"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"What's so funny, Sigma?"

"I don't see the grace…"

Nelaus had been chatting with Dr. Wily at Maha Ichiban's as Netto and Saito sat on the stools in front of the counter and enjoyed some dried fruits as snacks: Netto grinned and Saito sighed as he rolled his eyes: Sigma chuckled and both Blood Shadow and Isaac didn't seem to find the point of their good mood.

"Count Elec!" Netto called out.

"_What_?"

"Gauss Magnets wants to buy the Electel Estate, raze it and build a more luxurious mansion with a pool and all!"

"_WHAT? DAMN YOU, ANIKI~_!"

"We heard that he's talking with the local authorities already and is about to get the permit!" Sigma added.

"_Damn it_! I'm off to seeing my lawyer! Legally I own the WHOLE estate and _Aniki_ can't just pretend it's his!"

"Hit them hard!" Hinoken grinned.

"Oh come on." Madoi muttered.

"Hum! What a villain." Maha muttered.

"Hrum! Gauss – kun brings trouble along like 3 years ago."

"But I'd say that it's nothing compared to what he did during his time as "Gospel" Admin." Dr. Regal warned Wily.

"Hrum. I know that. But I let him decide on his own."

"Shah, shah, shah! Scare 'em!" Needle Man grinned.

"You cool it down." Yuriko muttered.

"Damn you, Magnet Man!" Elec Man growled.

"Trouble." Fire Man sighed.

"Tee, heh, heh." Colored Man giggled.

"Oh no." Magic Man sighed.

"_Later_!"

He walked out at a brisk pace and stopped to allow the street door to open. He stepped out and the door closed.

"_OH MY GOD_!" He suddenly yelled.

He ran back in and rushed to the storage room, slamming the door shut: everyone looked on that direction.

"What's the problem? He forgot his passport?" Wily wondered while looking at the door.

"Maybe..." Regal suggested

"Shah, shah, shah! He forgot his lawyer's address!" Needle Man laughed at his own joke.

"I don't think that's it." Yuriko skeptically replied.

The door opened and the gigantic hairless head of Count Elec "walked" inside.

"By all the…!" Wily gasped and actually jumped off his seat.

"What's the matter?" Regal asked.

"Look at the entrance!" Wily replied.

"My god! What's that?"

"It's horrific!" Yuriko shrieked.

"It's the killer! Shah, shah, shah!"

"Oh! Flames and fires! Is that…?" Hinoken was pale and leaning his back into the counter.

"It looks like Count Elec!" Madoi ventured.

Nelaus, Isaac, Saito and Blood Shadow rolled their eyes and sighed while Netto and Sigma laughed at it.

"_Surprise_!"

Two hands came out from the opening underneath the head and lifted it, throwing it in a corner: Charles revealed himself and both he and Davis looked about to start laughing.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS _THAT_?" Five people simultaneously asked to them.

"Oh? You mean this? It's called a _capgròs_ in Catalonia… A "Big Head". It's a very popular tradition that is used in festivities!"

"Blame Mr. Denpa for the idea, though! He was the one who came up with it!" Davis added, laughing.

"Then, that of the Electel State was…?" Madoi asked.

"It was part of the scheme!" Netto admitted.

"We knew something like that would make Count Elec come out, and, when he turned to the right, he stumbled upon the Big Head! It's no wonder that he ran back inside like that!" Sigma laughed.

"Shah, shah, shah! Ah! I remembered! Tell Rock Man that I wanna have a rematch!" Needle Man announced all of sudden.

"I don't see any problem with it… Where do you want to do it?" Saito asked.

"Tell the guy to come to the Internet Coliseum in an hour's time! I'll be waiting! Shah, shah, shah!"

"Needle Man! Who gave you…? JEEZ!" Yuriko began but stopped herself while sighing.

"He's a complication, just like you said." Regal commented while raising one eyebrow.

"You're right on that, Dr. Regal. The main problem is that he can't stay quiet at all. He's always looking for a fight. I know he's had some but he never seems to have enough…" She grumbled and sounded rather annoyed.

"… _No_! I'm _not_ going to _come out_ until _that guy_ leaves! That's my _ultimatum_!" Count Elec yelled from inside the storage room with his accented voice.

"We'll be leaving, then. Nevertheless… They wouldn't have accepted Count Elec's spiky hair in the cavalry…"

"Oho! I agree on that…" Wily chuckled.

"I think we should get on the move. We don't want to make Needle Man wait too much." Saito told the others.

"It's showdown time!" Sigma laughed.

The twins and Nelaus paid for their consumptions and headed out along with Charles (who picked the "capgròs") and Davis: Count Elec growled something undecipherable.

"Count Elec! Behave!" Wily commanded.

"HUH! Roger, Dr. Wily – sama!"

"Hinoken, Madoi! Back to work! On the double!"

"Roger, Dr. Wily – sama!"

17:41 PM (Japan Time)…

_Heh, heh, heh, heh… Well, well, well… If it isn't Needle Man… You've had some chances to shine but… You're stepping into the same mistakes as all the others… _

"Resal" was looking at the Internet Coliseum arena as Rock Man came in and stopped to face Needle Man.

"OK, Rock Man! Let's use the Sigma Sword this time around. Battle Chip, Sigma Sword! Slot In!" Netto announced.

"Come."

"DE MASU~! A magnificent otherworldly blade appeared! Masu!"

"WILL YOU STAY QUIET?" Number Man yelled.

"I cannot! My commentator soul commands me to speak! De masu!"

"What nonsense is THAT?"

"Shah, shah, shah! Scary, scary~… Whatever! Needle Cannon! Messy Shooting!"

Needle Man drew both gun muzzles and began to shoot but Rock Man merely placed the Sigma Sword horizontally and had it glow with a menacing blood red glow: all projectiles veered off course and landed at random spot around Rock Man: Rock Man didn't waste time and hit the floor with it to make a Flame Tower pop out where Needle Man was at and burn him.

"SHA~H! Not enough! That won't do!" He managed to sound confident.

_Hah, hah, hah, hah… That sword must be a container of several programs at the same time, I'd say. Interesting! Hum… Blood Shadow is on the opposite side of the spectator benches… Good… Isaac is there too so there's no danger of them coming close._

"Needle Attack!"

"Is that all?"

Rock Man merely had the sword glow blue and lifted it up to form an azure cyclone which sped across the arena and hit Needle Man thus making him fall into the ground and shatter his elongated needles: Rock Man jumped into the air and placed his feet on the lower edges of the blade as it dived for the ground and hit it.

"W-what's this rumble?" Needle Man gasped.

The ground began to rumble and a geyser of greenish energy popped out from the ground and pierced through Needle Man's body as he was lifted into the air.

"SHA~H!"

He was automatically retrieved and Rock Man jumped into the ground as the Sigma Blade got retrieved too.

"DE MASU~! THE OTHERWORDLY BLADE'S POWER SETTLES THIS FAST AND SUDDEN AND QUICK AND SHORT MATCH! DE MASU~! BANZAI~!"

"Will you stop inventing NONSENSE?" Number Man fumed.

"… Rock Man! The Count of Owls has sentenced you to die."

TCHAC!

"Gruah!"

"What in the…!"

The "Talon" had suddenly appeared behind Rock Man and drove their short sword through their stomach area from behind before lifting Rock Man: some tall marble walls lifted from the ground along with bright spotlights providing light: the creepy figures with the owl masks loomed over the edge at the scene below.

"My Court! My Court: he is prepared! I present you THE Rock Man! How do you want him to die?" He proudly asked.

"Break his neck!"

"No! Bleed him!"

"Take his feet!"

"His spine! _Heee – heee_! Pull his spine!"

"Let the littlest decide!"

"Yes! Yes! Let _HER_ choose! What do you want to see, dear?"

"Hurt him… _more_."

"My pleasure, my lady!"

The "Talon" threw Rock Man against the wall and he broke through it with his mass and speed: Rock Man struggled to get to his feet but his response seemed lagged.

"Hurt him like this?"

"More! MORE! MO~RE~!"

"Like this?"

"More! More! More! More! More! More!"

"As you wish, my Court!"

Another wall formed and the "Talon" tackled Rock Man to push him through it: he collapsed face-up on the field while clutching his wound and groaning.

"It is done, my Court! The Rock Man EXE is FINISHED! Come take his bones: he is yours."

The spectators jumped down in a rush but they now seemed to have gotten owl faces and claws plus talons: they began to swarm over Rock Man and he tried to keep them at bay.

"ENOUGH!"

"Run!"

"He's still alive!"

The spectators fled while the "Talon" merely stood there.

"Well, well. Still some fight in you. And look at you. Heh. Beating your wings… Gnashing your little fangs… Do you know what owls do to prey that…?" The "Talon" taunted Rock Man as he stood up.

"I know…! That I am _SICK_... To death… OF OWLS!"

"You dare…!"

"Oh! I do." Rock Man shot back.

"There's some gravity field keeping us glued to the seats!" Blood Shadow grumbled.

"And my PET connection is jammed!" Netto cursed.

"I can't exit it either!" Sigma hissed.

_Hmpf… Twilight… You're putting up quite a show, aren't you lowlife? Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah…_

"Twilight! You lowlife! Face me! Show your hide!" Rock Man challenged.

"MUGRO~H!"

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Shit. "Nebula Grey"!"

A "monster" suddenly formed on the scene together with a purplish undulating energy disk which had the vague shape of a face.

This "monster" had a main body the shape of which looked strikingly similar to the Alphabet letter "T" with the base having three pale blue diamond-like formations aiming NE and NW on each side of it: four large metallic chains came out from inside of the vortex and attached to the purplish mass which was the upper body.

The thing's head had an irregular shape as it was made up of reddish mass with white patterns drawn over it: two red eyes missing any iris shone on the face while the mouth area was colored blue: giant teeth filled the open mouth which uttered inhuman roars: a thin large diamond object was set on the forehead, too.

Six needles colored blue and with a small blackish stripe near the base of them emerged from behind the shoulders: they had an eerie vibe to them and looked sharp.

The monster's hands looked more like claws than real hands: they were colored in a reddish tint all the way to the start of the forearms: two cuffs seemingly made of metal with an inner blue band and lacking chains were visible on the monster's wrists.

"Did ya call for me, BRAT?" He mocked.

"That "Talon" thing is cheap and I'll prove it here and now!"

Rock Man formed those two curved blood red swords with indented edges and quickly used them to cut off the "Talon" into three pieces with the waist being the middle piece: the program hit the floor and got deleted while Rock Man jumped towards the monster and plunged both blades into the right wrist before jumping further up and landing atop the head to begin cutting through the "skull" of the monster: it roared and tried to shake Rock Man off but he merely kept on cutting away to land inside of what could be a control cockpit.

"So it's got a cockpit."

He spotted a metallic gray armchair in front of him with various wires linked to it plus the eyes of the monster seen from inside along with a control panel.

"Hmpf. So you've come, Jedi."

"Wanna play Emperor Palpatine now?" Rock Man challenged.

"Who knows, Rock Man? Maybe I want to crush you."

"And then you'll crush Atomic Network."

"Hah. They'll fail in less than 48 hours from now!" Twilight challenged back.

"You know something."

"I know EVERYTHING."

"Even the leader's ID?"

"Maybe yeah maybe not." He sneered.

"And this is a reminder that you're going to bring us trouble as soon as those guys are decimated or imprisoned."

"Yeah… You'd be better off writing your will… "Beware of the Court of Owls, that watching all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your heart. They watch you in your bed. Speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the Talon for your head." … A nursery rhyme passed down along generations of Gotham City inhabitants…" Twilight sung.

"Hmpf. More spoilers? I'm Anti Spoiler Guy." He mocked.

"Heh, heh, heh… Soon… You lowlifes will become cybernetic data and wander the Reverse Cyber World forever!"

"You mean "Spectrum" but that wouldn't fit with Maria's plans so you use it as an empty threat."

"Heh, heh, heh… I see that Search Man's been influencing you to be cool and composed… Shadow Man must be amused… Or should we name them Nam Owdahs?"

Rock Man simply grabbed the chair and turned it around to see a voodoo doll of Omega there having a speaker strapped to the forehead: he wasn't surprised.

"The Demon Idiom's curse has begun!"

"I'm SO scared." Rock Man drily replied while simply cutting up the doll to pieces but leaving the speaker there.

"My 5 Elite Ghosts want to meet you again."

"You mean your subordinates which you absorbed into your body."

"But I kept their abilities and they now can freely roam the Cyber World without needing a real body! Blame Davis Henshman for this idea: the guy inspired me. Ask them what I mean when you go back. Hah, hah, hah!"

"Whatever. I'm off. Your show is BORING. The audience ratings are about to plummet and they're going to kick you off for wasting their time and money." Rock Man calmly headed out.

He jumped out and landed into the crystals on the back which he began to cut out while ignoring the "Dark Aura" flowing out of their bodies: he landed on the ground and saw that Blood Shadow, Sigma and Isaac had managed to reach him.

"While you were inside we disabled those obstacles."

"Nebula Grey" roared once more before he vanished by forming a tall cylinder of energy colored purple heading towards some kind of "portal" in the sky: it closed and a voodoo doll of Rock Man dropped into the ground but Rock Man didn't mind it.

"Bah. The guy's running out of ideas."

He stomped on it and cut it up before stretching.

"Let's go back home. We need some rest."

"OK. I'll contact Davis to see if he can give us some insight." Isaac announced with a sigh.

"Contact Dave~?" Nelaus tried to make a joke to ease the air.

"Whoa. Saito – niisan… Eh… Are you really alright? That behavior didn't seem to fit you, ya know…" Netto worriedly asked.

"Huh? Maybe there's a glitch or something the guy stuffed into me: I'll need a check at the Science Labs. Let's go there."

_Hmpf… What a pathetic display of power, Twilight. But then again you lowlife weren't being serious. If not you'd brought out your Metal Gear RAY and begun razing Internet City to the foundations… Whatever… _

"Alright! Lleh Nogard will bless us all with his sushi spring roll!"

"Sushi spring roll…? Come on. I prefer a vegetables roll to that thing."

_I feel tense… Is this the calm before the storm? It's coming! The storm…! _


	18. Chapter 18: Rule of Terror and Fear

**Chapter 18: Rule of Terror and Fear**

07:07 AM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 11th…

"… Warning. Abnormal amounts of Bestialized Viruses are attacking intelligence agencies' offices all around the world."

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Warning. Mysterious digital jungle has appeared on the South Ameroupe Internet City."

"What the hell?"

Vadous had been sitting on the armchair inside of the command room and typing into the keyboard when alarms began to pop out and an auto-voice began to list out warnings: he gasped.

"Warning. Earthquakes are hitting central Ameroupe. They range from one to five in the Ricther scale. Minor damage to cities and landscapes has been detected."

"Them!"

"Warning. Sudden attacks on random cities around the world located in a nocturnal timeframe detected. Mystery figure strikes any pedestrians on its wake. Authorities are not capable of standing up to it. General emergency has been declared."

"Simultaneous worldwide attacks…? That's their so-called "master plan", then? Pretty lame if you ask me!"

"Warning. Mystery figure assaulting military complexes all around the world."

"That's five incidents. Where is that Plasma Man worm causing a ruckus, then?" Vadous asked to no one in particular.

"… Insofar no signature has been found for subject Plasma Man EXE."

"That guy must be directing the strike. Let's try to sort out how to stop this mess… I should call the Net Police… Omega!"

"I heard it."

"Move out to the Net Police HQ: we need a strategy. There are 5 incidents occurring all across the world."

Omega rushed in and Vadous turned the chair around to brief him as a worldwide map showed up with red dots popping out there and there one after the other: tags began to get assigned to them.

"Hmpf… Just the 5 of them jumping across the world… What a lame strategy… They must be desperate to try to look deadly and terrific like the Darkloids…" Omega muttered.

"Yeah, I know. That's why we need to coordinate: we might need to send more than one opponent after each other. Those "Atomic Chips" might make them stronger… And I wouldn't be surprised if they chose a _kamikaze_ ending to go down in terrorist history."

"Hmpf… They want to die so badly then so be it."

"Hold nothing back: but if possible try to capture them. It's not like we'll let them get away with it on the end, right?"

"Of course not… But we'll do what we can."

"You're authorized to fight with the limiters off."

"Alright. I've got a hunch that we'll need 100% of our strength to begin with." Omega calmly shrugged.

"Excellent. Beat them to a pulp!"

"My pleasure… I'll give them a lesson on my Vapaad."

Omega rushed out while Vadous grumbled and began to glance at the map to see that more dots had formed there in the meanwhile.

"Bah. Some of them will be converging in Japan nevertheless… And if not they'll surely end up forming a pattern… We'll tackle them and then try to lure Plasma Man out… This ends today. And Twilight wasn't bluffing. Yet we're still pending to figure out who their leader is… Some high-level criminal, that's sure… Hmpf. That goes later… Time to work…!"

19:27 PM (Bermuda Time), Friday October the 10th…

"… What the FUCK is this place?"

"Dunno…"

"Heck. I was at home seeing this news with you on the sofa when a "Dimensional Converter" pops out of somewhere and warps us away all of sudden..."

"My clock got updated… This is Bermuda time, you see…"

"We got warped half-way round the world? So this must be the island HQ we've been searching with."

"Hah! Correct, you gnats."

"You're Atomic Network's leader?"

"Show your hide and face us if you've got the damned GUTS."

"Guts I've got and plenty of 'em… I fooled ya gnats pretty wall 4 years ago, didn't the great me~?"

Charles and Davis were standing inside of the rather unlit room which was Atomic Network's HQ and had been discussing what had happened when the leader's voice rang out.

"Hmmm? Look at those, Charles."

"Dimensional Generators…?"

In effect: he could now spot eight "Dimensional Generator" antennae placed atop square platforms having a blue circle with a white body and spread across the rooms in the corners: they then looked at the main body to see that it had a "Dimensional Generator" antenna atop it too: the armchair was giving them the back.

"Wait a minute! You said 4 years ago… Fool us? Shit." Charles realized.

"YOU…!" Davis was pissed off by now.

"Yeah… The great me! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

The armchair got lifted by a robot arm connected to its body from behind and turned around via a mechanical elbow before it descended into the floor.

"Satan Takaisho – sama~!"

Satan Takaisho was a man about a meter and ninety tall and who could be on his late 30s or early 40s.

He had messy blackish hair and a beard of some days ago but he'd shaved out his moustaches.

His eyes' irises were brown and displayed a smug behavior.

They wore a simple black sleeveless vest with the Atomic Network logo drawn on the middle over a reddish t-shirt, jeans and tall black leather boots.

Other clothing included a pair of leather gloves with the same logo placed atop the hands.

"So the car accident in the sea-side road on that rainy December day was staged and so was the disappearance of your "corpse"…"

"Yeah! I stuffed swimming gear in the side-seat plus a special underwater diver's propeller the geeks at R&D had developed! I went underground and bid my time… When I heard of this business I decided I'd get my slice of the cake! I've done what others couldn't! I've set chaos loose across this pitiful world! I'm a GENIUS!" He boasted.

"Master."

"Hah! Plasma Man! Start Phase 1!"

"Hmpf. So! Plasma Man didn't know your name to begin with." Charles grumbled.

"Wanted to be careful, huh?" Davis aimed a Mega Cannon colored golden at the guy.

"Hah! Of course or else the effort I went through to set up the trick 4 years ago would've been in vain…"

"We're not surprised anymore that you lowlife have acted like a terrorist because you worked for a rogue state… Dark Land! You were part of the Secret Service's 4th Department… And you programmed Napalm Man as well!" Charles hissed.

"I'd rather say the gallows are waiting for you." Davis hissed next.

"Hmpf! I wonder 'bout that, you gnats!"

8 hatches opened and the platforms carrying the "DGs" slid outside along rail before stopping and turning to aim upwards: the ceiling of the room opened to reveal the evening skies as well.

"Phase 2!"

The "DGs", including the central one, turned on and began to load: they all converged and formed a spheroid of energy which then flew upwards and began to grow in size as it climbed up across the atmosphere until it'd seemingly reached the fringes of outer space: a "Dimensional Area" began to grow outside of it and began to expand.

"Hah. That's it? Twilight did the same over a year ago." Charles was far from impressed.

"And now you're over."

"Hah! Phase 3! Plasma Man!"

"Roger, Master. I shall become thou body to rule this foolish world: let my will fuse with Master's!"

A red LCD on the armchair's right side below the armrest turned on and Takaisho drew something out of the vest pocket.

"Dark Synchro Chip!"

"What!"

This "Dark Synchro Chip" had a purple rim around the jewel, which was colored blood red: some "tendril"-like extensions originated from the rim which was covering the usual Hikari emblem: it looked like someone had tried to add a new layer over a normal "Synchro Chip" in a blunt manner.

"Slot In!"

Two tubes resembling those of Plasma Man extended to form a 45º angle each one: purplish energy began to load on it and the armchair began to glow as it began to become data.

"Cross Fusion!"

"No way!"

The energy expanded into a sphere which engulfed Takaisho and the whole armchair which broke down into clusters of data which formed around Takaisho's body and he laughed.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Bwah, hah, hah Nyah, hah, hah!"

The light dimmed to reveal "CF" Takaisho's form.

New crimson bands formed around the waist, shoulders and hips plus another one with orange dots on it which circled the neck.

Their main body design wasn't different from Plasma Man's original one but the word "SATAN" in Capital Alphabet letters and colored orange was imprinted along the length of the arms and legs.

The name "Atomic Network" was written vertically in two columns in both flanks of the chest with the word "Atomic" on the right side and the word "Network" on the left side.

Their shades weren't so thick and their eyes could be seen glowing with a menacing red glow from beneath them while the area over the mouth had gained a filter-like device with two PVC tubes circling the neck and ending up in a small square box which seemed to be an air intake.

Their whole form seemed to display power and dread.

"Shit. Let's go, Dave!"

"OK!"

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"Hmpf!"

"CF" Takaisho merely snapped their right hand's fingers: the "circles" in each platform extended to reveal "DCs" which turned on and protected each device by forming a small "DA" around them: 12 of them popped out of the main device and shielded it as well.

"I'll go decimate the bigger fish! You lowlifes come later… My pets will slowly kill you off! Hah, hah, hah!"

He suddenly leapt into the air and used the plasma jets to fly for the still-projecting "Dimensional Beam" and got inside of it: his body formed a white sphere of energy around it and he suddenly _rode_ along it towards the sky.

"What in the…?" "CF" Charles gasped.

"He's seemingly applied Wily Program tech into that thing to allow him to momentarily become a cybernetic data form and thus be able to be transported as signal data across that hi-frequency wave the "Dimensional Beam" is…! And he's headed for the Subspace HQ!"

"Shit."

Huge numbers of Juuka Viruses suddenly formed there and began to run towards "CF" Charles: he cursed and drew his saber to begin slicing them up at mad a speed.

"Fuck. We gotta take them down before they can overwhelm us: Battle Chip, Salamander!"

"CF" Charles rocketed skyward and then dived into the ground: his shockwave deleted most of the Viruses but new ones began to generate next.

"Fuck. Is there no end to them?"

"Try Dream Aura…"

"Battle Chip, Dream Aura! And… Battle Chip, Zeus Hammer!"

He hit the floor with the weapon to delete more of them.

"Grah! We must establish a line with Vadous or the Net Police! Quickly!"

07:54 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Warning! Warning! A "Dimensional Beam" has been detected emerging from the Bermuda Triangle."

"What?"

"Warning! Warning! "Dimensional Beam" is being reflected by a hijacked Science Labs satellite and is heading straight for HQ."

"What… The guy behind Atomic Network wants to try to trap me inside of a "Dimensional Area"?"

Vadous had been impatiently tapping into the keyboard when he looked up as sensor imagery was brought up to show the beam emerging from close to the North Ameroupe Eastern Coast and go through the still-expanding worldwide "DA": the beam bounced off a mirror on a satellite and headed towards the camera.

"Warning! Warning! A signature riding along the "Dimensional Beam" has been detected."

"What the hell? That's impossible!" Vadous cursed.

"Signature is approaching Observation Deck#11 on the third deck. ETA for impact is: one minute ten seconds."

"Attention to all personnel! Brace yourselves! Something's gonna hit us and hard!" Vadous engaged the main PA system.

"ETA for impact is: forty seconds."

"Everyone! Remain inside of your rooms! I'm going to lock them for safety! Black Ace! Lock up _all_ doors on the _whole_ HQ! Don't open them until you confirm the impact!" Vadous ordered.

"Affirmative. Lockdown has been engaged. ETA for impact is: ten seconds. Nine seconds. Eight seconds. Seven seconds. Six seconds. Five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second…"

A brutal jolt suddenly shook the whole HQ for some seconds and it soon died down.

"What has hit us?" Vadous asked the computer.

"Warning! Pressure drop localized in Observation Deck#11. Emergency shutter has been engaged. Pressure drop contained. Re-equalizing pressure…"

There was an explosion at some distance.

"What was that?" Vadous demanded next.

"Warning! Unknown signature has destroyed Observation Deck#11's door."

"What the heck?"

He stood up as another two explosions rang out almost simultaneously close by.

"Warning! Unknown signature has destroyed Door#17 and #19. These doors connect Sector 11, 3rd Deck with Central Hub. Signature has intruded the Central Hub. Signature located within Walkway#21." Black Ace reported.

"That walkway goes straight to the Sector9, 3rd Deck! That's odd, because even Michelangelo's Room is placed in Sector 10, third deck…"

"Plasma Cannon! Double Round!" A voice yelled nearby.

Two plasma ellipsoids broke through the grid-like floor placed at Vadous' left and he gasped.

"Hell! I'd forgotten! Walkway#21 passes right underneath the command bridge! And I know who's in here…"

He drew both swords and engaged his helmet's facial protection and mouth guard.

The face protection consisted on two pieces which covered the eyes and had glass hexagons with a narrow slit on them.

The mouth piece looked similar to that of a Navi's, but contained a triangle-shaped object which seemed to be some kind of respirator.

Overall, it looked like a rip-off from _Star Wars_.

"Plasma Jet!"

"CF" Takaisho jumped inside of the room, hovering with his jets.

"You lowlife look and sound somewhat different today, Plasma Man… You lowlife must be Atomic Network's leader!" Vadous guessed.

"That's right, Vadous! I'm Satan Takaisho!"

"What? I read the Justice Council's report on you! You died four years ago!" Vadous pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I won't bother to repeat the trick I used! I've come to ensure you lowlife's demise and the destruction of all of your assets!" "CF" Takaisho declared with obvious arrogance.

"This ain't the place for a clash! Door of the Beyond, Open! We go to the Dimensional Arena!"

Vadous waved his right hand and big purple – colored vortex opened in the middle of the room: it sucked "CF" Takaisho inside and Vadous began to be sucked in.

"Lartes! You're in charge!"

Both vanished inside as the phenomenon vanished and a man rushed inside of the room.

Lartes was a man on his mid-20s and about a meter and eighty tall more or less.

He had black slightly messy hair plus brownish irises' eyes.

He wore a medic's coat with the ID "Dr. Kazimura Lartes" written on it and sported brown pants plus shoes.

He had a pair of reading glasses on, too, which he adjusted.

"Black Ace! Report the situation on the ground!" Lartes commanded as he sat down in the chair and began to type into the keyboard in a rush as if to get up-to-date.

"Warning! Gigantic copies of Cross Fusion Plasma Man have appeared within several spots in the world." Black Ace warned.

"What the hell?" Lartes was astonished.

He looked at the monitors, which showed footage from Ameroupe, King Land, Cream Land, Namaste and Sharo.

"That's…!"

Gigantic Plasma Men began to set on fire everything with their exhaust tubes and destroy anything in their sight.

"Fuck! What in the hell are those? Black Ace! Open a line with the Science Labs!" He ordered.

"Affirmative." Black Ace replied.

"Hikari – hakase!"

"Dr. Lartes?"

"What in the world are THOSE, sir?"

"Hmmm… I'd rather say gigantic clusters of data assembled together and having a central core to control them… They must be receiving signals from somewhere…" He muttered.

"Eh… Truth is… Back… Well… Back in "Nebula"… I… planned to use those when this day came…" Dr. Regal timidly muttered in the background.

"… I see. So it's as we thought: Atomic Network wants to imitate "Nebula" but prove they are better than they were." Yuuichirou calmly replied without being surprised.

"Excuse me for butting in…"

"Ah! General Hawk."

General Hawk could be on his late 50s and his hair was starting to go white although it still could be seen that his natural color was black.

Their height could be close to a meter and ninety tall.

His eyes' irises were brownish and he was clean shaven: his nose seemed to have a hawk-like profile to it even.

He wore a grayish military uniform including pants plus a small medal which had a black dot on the center of its round body.

"I got a transmission from Mr. Morgangantz… He's fighting in the Atomic Network base and the source of this "DA" is a set of nine "DGs" each protected by their own "DA"… How could we disable them from the _outside_?" He asked.

"Hmmm… Regal! Any ideas?" Wily asked.

"Well… EMPs would do… "DAs" have always been very sensitive to concentrated or focused EM Waves…"

"The problem is: how do we shoot several EMPs at them?" Meijin brought up with a sigh.

"Leave that up to us, gentlemen. We developed EMP missiles and bombs to knock out the enemy's heavy weaponry when the situation allows for it and thus reduce their combat capability…"

"Oh! Excellent." Lartes grinned.

"We'll head over there ASAP before one of those giants decides to drop by: the sooner we take those out the better. Later, gentlemen."

"Good. It'd seem all's going smoothly… Have you gotten a lock on those fools, though?" Wily asked.

"Black Ace got the results… Demon Scythe: New York City. Grenadier Man: Okinawa Islands. Infinity Man: Sidney. Bamboo Man: Buenos Aires Internet City. Earth Rock Man: Bosporus Strait, Turkey. "CF" Plasma Man was here but I didn't get to hear who it was: Boss took them away to the "Dimensional Arena" to pound them and will surely arrest them on the spot once he's finished with them."

"Good! I'll relay the info to the Net Saviors. Time to end this…"

"Infinity Man is about to run into trouble… Twilight's in Australia…!"

19:07 PM (New York Time), Friday October the 10th…

"… Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Look at how they ran! The prideful NYC lowlifes! And how their so-prideful NYPD lowlifes failed to strike me down and had to pull back! The almighty NYC's become a ghost town! Come out, you lowlifes! The Grim Reaper is gonna reap your souls!"

"Did you ask for me, neophyte?"

"That's as far as you get."

"Hmpf! Shadow Man and Zero… Excellent… I'll reap both of you lowlifes' souls!"

Demon Scythe had been jumping and attacking along NYC's Fifth Avenue which was now surprisingly empty (or maybe not so surprisingly) given how cars had been abandoned in a rush and all buildings' lights had been cut off: "CF" Miyabi and Zero faced the attacker.

"Kage Bunshin! Sudden Strike!"

"Eat these."

"Hah! Atomic Chip! Demon Breath!"

"CF" Miyabi formed his "Kage Bunshin" and then drew both _katana_ to try to attack the enemy while Zero swung his sword and shot slices of energy: Demon Scythe activated his "Atomic Chip" and his body glowed before he began to exhale reddish/crimson flames which formed a circle around him: they leapt into both fighters' bodies and they had to roll across the ground to put them out yet the "Devils" were upon them already and began to swarm them: Demon Scythe turned transparent and began to fade in and out while getting closer to "CF" Miyabi: he hit the neck but it turned out to be a garbage bin serving as "bunshin": 10 _shuriken_ fell down from above and below in a row followed by Zero's beam of energy which caught him with the pants down: he skid 10 meters across the avenue but soon recovered.

"Hmpf. A little miscalculation… But that's all!"

"I'd rather say you've got faulty Flash memory." Zero taunted back.

"If you can't remember our usual tactics…" Shadow Man added.

"Damn you~…" He howled.

He warped and suddenly dropped from above to hit "CF" Miyabi thus forming a vertical cut across his chest but "CF" Miyabi merely tackled him with the right shoulder: Demon Scythe began to try to hit him with a short sword he carried the blade of which seemed to be burning but "CF" Miyabi was too agile.

"We told you before: no matter how hard you try you lack any real concept of strategy and your power isn't THAT overwhelming… Your Master was clearly underestimating us when he programmed your abilities and their power output… They only start to inflict SOME harm when you boost them up." Shadow Man exposed.

"In short: you're LAME."

"LAME! ME! We'll go down in history as the greatest Net Navis ever! We'll overcome those barbaric and inferior Darkloids! And Nebula! We'll prove to be better than Nebula, Neo Gospel or Deadly Pandora~!"

"Then prove it."

"Atomic Chip! 3 of them! I've got a further 75% power boost! You'll regret pissing ME off! DIE~!"

"This could be troublesome." "CF" Miyabi calmly muttered.

"Just block and if he hits you store it as Muramasa Blade damage…"

"Good. I don't mind repeating tricks."

"Demon Rush!"

Demon Scythe built up energy and then shot forward while giving shape to a "trail" of orange energy as if he was a comet: he hit Zero and the impact sent him flying for 30 meters before he could land and skid into the ground to halt his movement: he quickly formed a Yo-yo Battle Chip and shot it to his back to impact Demon Scythe's forehead and stun him for a second or two: he turned around and opened a wound on the right knee.

"How's that for a change?"

"Hah! No big deal… If you lowlifes were aiming to catch me alive then think again! I'll go down in glory and followers will adore me! But not before I reap you lowlifes! HRAH!"

He suddenly formed two slices of orange energy which hit Zero and suddenly got stuck on his body before they detonated and opened four wounds on his body: "CF" Miyabi landed in front of him and delivered two attacks to Demon Scythe but he suddenly flipped and stabbed a knife he'd been carrying into his right foot (the boot of which he'd removed) into "CF" Miyabi's chest emblem thus breaking this "Cross Fusion": Miyabi merely used an artifact to produce a flash and smoke to vanish.

"Hah! They abandoned you in the end, Virus!"

"Wrong. He's simply getting out of the way. Now this is between you lowlife and me." Zero replied.

"So be it! Demon Bindings!"

Demon Scythe suddenly formed an "aura" colored orange around his frame and some chains shot forward past Zero to then begin coiling around his limbs and torso: Zero grumbled.

"Die."

Demon Scythe plunged the knife into Zero's chest but he suddenly broke the chains and pulled out the knife to stab it into Demon Scythe's right knee and further harm the guy: Demon Scythe chuckled.

"No… I won't give you lowlife the chance!"

"You idiot. What point is there to dying for something vain?"

"I dunno and I don't need to know! Glory to Atomic Network!"

"Fuck."

Demon Scythe laughed as his body emitted streams of orange energy and it exploded into the form of an orange dome of energy expanding across the avenue: Zero roared in agony as it encompassed him…

09:54 AM (Sydney Time), Saturday October the 11th…

"… Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Go, Viruses! Ravage this meaningless Opera House and spread terror and fear!"

"That's as far as you get!"

"Hmpf! Nelaus Rainon and Isaac! You lowlifes think you can stop the unstoppable Infinity Man – sama?"

"We can! With our new form…!"

"What new form? Boast while you can!"

"Isaac! Let's try it out! The 3rd Juuka Style!"

"OK! Hold on: this will be a kicker!"

"What?"

Infinity Man and his Juuka Viruses armies had been ravaging the insides of the Sydney Opera House when "CF" Nelaus appeared on the spot to confront them: Infinity Man got cocky while "CF" Nelaus merely seemed to get ready.

"Hruwro~h! I can feel power radiating out! Come!"

"What's this power? I've never felt anything like it before!"

A spheroid of white light encompassed "CF" Nelaus' form and it eventually dimmed to reveal that he'd gained a new form.

This new form looked like a fusion of both "Greiga" and "Falzer" the main color of which was white and it included the wings, the "lion head helmet", and a tail as well as claws and talons.

"Get ready! Flying Knuckles!"

Several white-colored copies of "CF" Nelaus' forearms having their hands closed into punches formed in front of him and flew across the room to bombard Infinity Man: "CF" Nelaus dashed forward and gripped the guy before flying towards the entrance of the room: they navigated the corridors and finally came out into the front yard.

"There. Now you won't damage the hall."

"Damn you! Let go of me!"

"Sure."

He lifted into the air until he was 5 meters over the plaza and let the guy fall into the plaza in a totally unceremoniously manner: he groaned and managed to stand up.

"Dream Sword!"

"Come."

"CF" Nelaus flied down into ground level and extended his hands: he blocked the Dream Sword effortlessly and had it run back at Infinity Man thus hitting him instead but he glowed with a purple glow for a second before snickering.

"Huh. Muramasa Blade strategy… We should be careful, Isaac."

"Yeah… I know…"

They failed to spot the "Talon" (or, rather, Philip) looking from the harbor using a pair of binoculars.

"Hmpf… Show me what you can do…" He muttered.

"Giga Cannon! Zeta Cannon!"

"What! Two simultaneous PAs?"

"I edited them! Now you DIE!"

"I don't think so! Sacred Pylons!"

"CF" Nelaus hit the floor with his right fist as it glowed with an azure glow and 16 tall pylons some centimeters thick and about two meters tall formed around him in a 50cm radius to block the incoming attacks and break down their energy which formed two rings colored red and purple each and which circled the pylons above and below: they then warped and formed again on the spot where Infinity Man was at: both exploded and both explosions hit Infinity Man.

"Gruaohgwah! How clever!" He cursed.

"Careful, Nelaus. He could try to use a Breaker PA."

"Gotcha. I'll be ready…"

"Stream Head!"

A Virus in the form of a face with an elongated piece which seemed to be its hair and a neck formed and began to attack the pylons until it shattered them and hit "CF" Nelaus thus pushing him back: Infinity Man warped and showed up inches in front of "CF" Nelaus: he clutched his neck and began to try to strangle him.

"Die~!"

"Kuh! Gruh! Hyper Burst…!"

"What! Ugro~h!"

The Hyper Burst's blow made Infinity Man let go and "CF" Nelaus began to kick at him and punch him before delivering an uppercut to his jaw: Infinity Man growled.

"I had it ready on my "temp" directory!"

"Fuck. Super Wide!"

"Ojiouzan!"

The statuette got hit by the Program Advance and a thunderbolt fell down atop the guy: he roared and "CF" Nelaus quickly delivered a new group of kicks and punches.

"Hmpf… Not bad…" Philip muttered.

"Had enough, ugly?"

"No… Not yet! _The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor_…! You're going to be on that doomed ship and become food for the Flood!"

"I dunno what you're talking about. You're but a terrorist."

"And I'll go down in History! But firstly I'll decimate you lowlife!"

"Bring it on!"

"Poison Pharaoh!"

"Huh? What's that?" "CF" Nelaus wondered.

A large statue which seemed to be a purple-tinted Pharaoh Man dropped into the field and began to form "Poison Panels" while emitting some purplish puffs of gas: "CF" Nelaus coughed and began to hover over the terrain.

"Shit. That statue makes my HP drop down at a rate of 5 per second! I'll be dead in less than 9 minutes if I don't destroy it somehow!"

"Nelaus! Behind!"

"Shit."

"You fool! You lowered the guard! Yo-yo Great!"

The triple set of Yo-yo Battle Chips shot and spun to form wounds on "CF" Nelaus' body before they got pulled back.

"Now! Atomic Chip! 4 of them and I get a further 100% power bonus which equals to 2 times my current power! Say farewell! Crave your own grave! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Fuck. I won't lose so easily! I'm going to risk it: Energy Mass!"

He formed some irregular-shaped masses of white energy which he flung at the opponent and landed around him causing explosions but he didn't seem to care about them to begin with.

"Is that your best shot, gnats?"

"Fuck. We'll need something else… This will do!"

"CF" Nelaus built up a cocoon of reddish energy around him before he shot forward and impacted with Infinity Man who was flying to intercept him: the resulting shockwave pushed both of them away and Infinity Man hit the floor, hard, as "CF" Nelaus managed to land on the entrance stairs while crouching and stopping his movements.

"So? What happened to the earlier GUTS?" "CF" Nelaus taunted.

"Damn you~… That won't be enough! And if you were thinking of capturing me then give it up! I'll go down with a bang and I'll drag you as well into Hell!" He proclaimed.

"Then I'll stop you. Program Advance! Elec Pulse, Triple Slot In! Destroy Pulse~!"

"Ugromwro~h!"

The powerful concentration of sound waves made the air shake and vibrate and Infinity Man was having trouble enduring its power: he suddenly formed a Dream Aura to protect himself and grinned as he warped and appeared behind "CF" Nelaus.

"Die."

"Wrong!"

"CF" Nelaus whipped around and aimed the weapon at Infinity Man once again: he howled and his body suddenly gained a new layer of orange armor over it: he began to deliver blows and kicks to "CF" Nelaus which shattered part of his "3rd Juuka Style" and revealed his original "Cross Fusion" form beneath it: Infinity Man tackled him and they rolled down the stairs into the plaza where they resorted to punching and kicking each other.

"Shit. The statue thing! It's been 7 minutes! I've lost over 2100 HP and this guy's attacks increase that to 2450 HP! I've got only 30 seconds left and something is blocking off my Recovery Battle Chips!"

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! My own bug is taking effect! Now feel the despair as you go down with me into Hell!"

"Fuck. Area Steal is bugged too and this guy weights a lot!"

"Don't give up, Nelaus! There has to be a way out!"

"Time's up! KABOOM!"

Infinity Man glowed and exploded while Nelaus and Isaac yelled in agony…

03:16 AM (Istanbul Time)…

"… Hah, hah, hah! My armor can't be melted by you lowlife's plasma rounds and I've got "cortosis" shields which can disable you lowlife's saber as well!"

"Hmpf. Whatever. I'll find a way around."

"Istanbul is half ruined and half flooded! This arrogant city will soon submit to OUR rule!"

"Not if I'm here to stop it."

"Bring it on, Jedi!"

"Hmpf. You're asking for it, you fool."

Omega was fighting Earth Rock Man inside of a Cyber World somewhere: Omega's plasma rounds didn't seem to have any effect on the guy and his saber bounced off against his plating.

"Unlike the others… I came prepared!"

"Hmpf. That I see."

"Quake Sphere! Mother Gaia!"

He formed a boulder which he threw Omega: he easily sliced it up but it was a distraction as he hit the ground with both fists to make some geysers of energy shoot from the ground and harm Omega: he was unaffected as he jumped and delivered a kick to his forehead: Earth Rock Man flipped and got into an standing position again while forming two brown-colored Long Swords and a large ghostly image of a large sword into the air.

"Ragnarok!"

The attack hit the floor and an explosion ensued: Omega endured it and then blocked both incoming swords before delivering a kick on the waist and tackling the guy with the right shoulder.

"That won't be enough."

"Shit. Atomic Chip: four of 'em!"

"Hmpf… Go ahead: drown in your own power."

Earth Rock Man roared and then got into a _sumo_ fighter pose to hit the floor with his right leg: an earthquake ensued and part of the ground lifted with violence: Omega jumped and landed back but the guy repeated the earlier tactic with the left leg: Omega got hit but left the inertia push him into the air where he flipped and then landed down: Earth Rock Man tried to hit him with the swords but Omega had no real trouble dodging his incoming attacks.

"Is that all? No wonder Blood Shadow defeated you SO easily."

"Gra~h! I'm invincible~!"

"That's your own illusion. You guys were programmed in a rush because your Master, whoever they are, was expecting to catch us rusted and with the pants down after the Deadly Pandora campaign but the guy doesn't know that we never neglect training and seek to improve ourselves. You were supposed to have short lives and end up as _kamikaze_."

"And thus we'll go down in history as the greatest terror ever: I laugh at those fanatical humans and the incident of 7 years ago!"

"… Hmpf. Of course: an Independent Model Net Navi like you can't come close to understand what that "incident" meant and how many lives were lost because of those terrorists. Now I'll capture you and you'll be rotting away in the Net Prison along with your pals."

"Hah! Demon Scythe and Infinity Man have gone on ahead: they have reached the Afterworld! I'll soon join them and send you to Hell along the way! I'll crush you like the tiny meaningless bug you are!"

"Shit. So you lowlifes go boom to escape justice? I won't let you: at least of one of you will end up there and justice will be delivered."

"Justice! Hah! There's no such thing: the strongest rule and the weak obey and that's all there's to the world!"

"Wrong. Bring out your best shot, then."

"Hah! Summon! Apocalypse!"

"A _Golden Sun_ rip-off, huh?"

A figure floating above them formed a spheroid of energy which got shot at the ground and a destructive shockwave engulfed the whole of the Cyber World: when it cleared a lot of it had been damaged but both combatants were still on their feet.

"Che! Not enough? Meteor!"

A gigantic incandescent meteor fell down next: alarms began to ring out and some sections began to malfunction.

"Hah! We'll go down into the bottom of the Bosporus!"

"Not if I have something to say about it."

Omega tackled Earth Rock Man and they warped out of the submarine into the top of a building in the Istanbul Internet City: Earth Rock Man grumbled under his breath.

"Hmpf! So be it! I'll give you the last blow! Thor!"

The mythic Norse god appeared and formed streaks of energy on its hammer which he shot at Omega.

"Boreas!"

Another Norse god shot chunks of ice which landed on Omega's position but he didn't mind them: he tried to jump but then found out that Earth Rock Man had created quicksand around his feet: he struggled to get out but he only managed to sink further.

"There's no place to run off to! You'll go down with me into Hell: hope they have a big enough room for you! The Darkloids are waiting to settle the score with you lowlife~!"

"Fuck. You've gone NUTS!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hyah, hah, hah! Atomic Network: forever!"

He detonated in the form of an orange spheroid and Omega yelled…

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hah! Eat these!"

"Dodge, Enzan!"

"I'm on it, Laika!"

"Grenade Volley!"

"Grah! Those flash-bangs impair with my lock-on abilities!"

"And they don't let me get closer either!"

"It's useless! Truly useless!"

"CF" Laika and "CF" Blues were struggling to fight back Grenadier Man outside of a military base compound: his volley of 5 grenades including flash-bang effect was impairing their attempts to fight the guy back insofar so Grenadier Man got cocky.

"No more toying around! Grenade Volley!"

He shot another five into the air and they detonated to form black smoke which would obviously be used by him to hide: "CF" Blues saw a chance so he rushed in and managed to land two hits with his Long Blade and his Wide Blade.

"Hah! Not bad… But the real terror begins NOW!"

"Shit. Laika!"

"Satellite Ray, Scope Gun! Search Grenades! Grenade for a grenade!"

"CF" Laika's two chained attacks caught Grenadier Man with the pants down and he then threw five grenades which landed at his feet and detonated: he growled and warped.

"Careful! Back to back: now!"

"Roger!"

Both glued their backs together just as Grenadier Man appeared at their left: they faced that direction to counter.

"Sonic Boom!"

"Mugen Vulcan!"

"RPG!"

He loaded the RPG and shot it at the ground: the explosion sent them flying along with a cloud of mud and dirt and soil and they landed, hard, 7 meters south and 2 meters away from each other.

"Shit. I forgot about that gadget." "CF" Blues cursed.

"It would be wise to heal, Enzan – sama."

"Yeah… Guess that! Recovery 100!"

"Laika – sama: if we don't heal the enemy will drive us to a tight spot."

"I know, Search Man… Recovery 100!"

"Hah! You gnats can't stand up to the GREAT ME! Atomic Chip: four of 'em _in a row_ as Bowl Man would say! Hah!"

"Fuck. And now his power doubles." "CF" Blues growled.

"Hmmm? Ah! I see… Heh, heh, heh… Only I and Bamboo Man are left in this world… The other went ahead and dragged the others with them into Hell… Heh, heh, heh… Or should I say the _Naraku_?"

"Shit. We've got to capture them because Plasma Man must be next to impossible to capture." "CF" Laika cursed.

"And I don't like the sound of that guy's talk: I can't contact any of the others because our lines are jammed… We're alone and cut off from any contact even with the Science Labs…!"

"I don't like this. Mugen Vulcan!"

"Hah! Let 'em hit me 'cause they have ZERO effect!"

Grenadier Man let the rounds harm him and he simply loaded up another volley of grenades.

"Pain Grenades! Grenade Volley!"

These "Pain Grenades" dropped around them and exploded in a sequenced manner to inflict further damage.

"Shit. They are like Muramasa Grenades: the more damage we do to the guy the more damage these things will do to us." "CF" Laika realized while hissing something undecipherable under his breath.

"What a panorama!"

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Starting to realize the despair and the powerlessness which comes before ETERNAL SLEEP?"

"Shaddup. You're the one who'll experience the madness which comes with being isolated in a drawer and being unable to talk to anyone forever as your data decays." "CF" Laika shot back.

"Hmpf! That's what happens to criminal guys like you lowlifes." "CF" Blues added next.

"Hah! BOAST while you can. I'll BURY you yet!"

"Dream Sword! I stored it on my "temp" directory like Laika! A trick we copied from Infinity Man: blame the guy for the idea!"

"Hah! The guy fulfilled his duty splendidly: now I gotta take out the INTERLOPERS and I'll down with a BANG!"

The Dream Sword hit him fully but he simply laughed as if he enjoyed the pain which came with it and loaded a new RPG round which was glowing with purplish light: he shot it into the ground at their feet and it exploded thus causing damage to both of them: 5 grenades landed there next and inflicted further damage: some spots of their "Cross Fusion" bodies began to break down and were having trouble remaining stable: the Operators groaned and hissed.

"Laika – sama!"

"Enzan – sama!"

"Too late! Time's UP! Atomic Network… _Banzai_~!"

Grenadier Man loomed over them and blew up while laughing like mad…

23:33 PM (Buenos Aires Time), Friday October the 10th…

"… Heh, heh, heh… I can't let you reach Master Bamboo Man!"

"Heck. Zoan Plant Man of all guys."

"I'll turn you into my toy~!"

"What, they programmed him to be an S&M sadist?"

"Looks like it, Netto – kun. Jeez. We had to split to search this jungle-become Internet City and I had to find this guy. I wonder who the others found out there…"

Rock Man was facing "Zoan" Plant Man who had transformed into his "Bestialize" form.

"Let's end this quickly. Battle Chip, Atomic Blazer! Slot In!"

"Plant Weed!"

"Slow. Out of the way."

Rock Man built up an orb of orange energy and then shot a gigantic stream of flames forward towards Zoan Plant Man: the blast kept past him and he roared as he burnt away and a pathway was cleared to advance further into the "jungle city": he sighed in relief.

"Rock Man? Here's Blood Shadow… I dispatched Zoan Snake Man."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Nam Doow Motnahp didn't stand a chance even while trying to hide with his Woody Towers…"

"You mean Phantom Wood Man."

"Say. This Internet City… It's gotta have a central plaza, right?"

"I see. Bamboo Man must be there."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… Nam Oobmab is there~!"

"No news from the other groups?" Rock Man asked.

"I've been trying but I can't contact the Science Labs either."

"Heck. Then let's clear this and rush to the Science Labs to make sure everything is in order… We did station Meiru – chan and Yuriko there along with Prism Man because they make up good defenders in case Plasma Man was to drop by there… Maybe Davis is already there as we speak too…"

Rock Man rushed into the central clearing along with Blood Shadow and Sigma and found a tall tree with large gigantic roots spreading from it plus vines and weed: a chuckle rang out and Bamboo Man jumped out of the tree's foliage, into the sky, and landed with grace in front of Rock Man while having his Bamboo Vulcan and his Bamboo Sword drawn.

"Heh, heh, heh. Welcome to my jungle city."

"Bamboo Man. You're under arrest. You're coming with us like it or not and you will have a trial." Rock Man calmly told him.

"Hah! The others save for Plasma Man… They're gone and they blew up your so-precious companions at the same time… Heh, heh, heh! Today is a glorious day! I won't make it easy for you guys to get to me: not even 3 in 1 will stop me because I've got some new tricks up my sleeves… Such as THIS! Bamboo Bunshin!"

"Heck." Netto grumbled.

Bamboo Man formed two copies which began to attack Blood Shadow and Sigma while Rock Man drew his indented blades and began to cut through the bamboo lances shot at him while blocking the Bamboo Sword with the blunt edge of the sword: he wasn't impressed while Bamboo Man was chuckling and sneering.

"Those "sentries" were your idea?" Rock Man questioned.

"No! I guess Twilight wanted to have you guys sweat."

"Hmpf. I thought at much." Rock Man calmly muttered.

"Yeah. No one else would program Zoan Plant Man to behave like that to begin with, anyway." Netto shrugged.

"Bamboo Cage!"

"What in the…?"

Several bamboo lances rose from the ground and formed a cage around Rock Man to trap him there followed by an energy field but Bamboo Man had sneaked inside.

"Here no interlopers will get in the way! Just you and me…!"

"Fine."

"But I jammed…!"

"O – Program: Activate!"

"What! No way!"

"… Don't underestimate Rock Man's strength. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"What? Twilight!"

Rock Man engaged the O – Program and gained the Omega Soul form while Vader formed there along with his 64 Mettools and signaled Bamboo Man to taunt him.

"If I could beat Plasma Man with this then you stand no better chances: but I'll simply weaken you, overload the cage, and bring you to the Net Prison." Rock Man calmly told him as he drew the blade.

"Dream on! Bamboo Cannon! Bamboo Disc!"

Bamboo Man shot some lances at Rock Man but he cut through them although the disc did get to stab his right hip and Rock Man groaned when he realized they were coated in poison: Bamboo Man grinned and rushed closer but got a round of plasma on his right shoulder which melted part of his armor: he growled and stepped back: Rock Man ignored the poison and aimed both weapons at his opponent.

"You can't defeat me so easily."

"Shit."

"Just give it up: there's no point in dying for nothing, Bamboo Man."

"Hah! I don't care! I'll go down as a MARTYR!"

"… Hmpf. History will decide. And not that pitiful Master…" Twilight taunted back with a shrug.

"Shit. Fight me!"

"No need to… I'm about to go see how _kyoudai_ is faring on his battle with Cross Fusion Plasma Man… Hmpf… It's about time to execute the final phase of my strategy… Let's go, Legion 64!"

"Vader" vanished while Bamboo Man gasped on seeing how Blood Shadow and Sigma had begun attacking the cage to try to break it given how his "bunshins" had been dispatched by now.

"Damn you! Gra~h!"

Rock Man stored his weapons and ducked before he gripped Bamboo Man and used a _judo_ technique to plummet him into the ground: Bamboo Man recovered and formed larger fingernails: he managed to form a cut on Rock Man's right cheek but he didn't mind it and began to kick and punch Bamboo Man while looking unimpressed or bored.

"You're nothing. You're not special. You're a terrorist. You inflict harm to others and have fun with it. You wouldn't laugh so much if you were in the receiving end." Rock Man taunted the guy.

"B-Bamboo Lance!"

Some bamboo lances pushed Rock Man away and formed a second cage which was as half as long and wide as the original one, being just one meter per two meters.

"No more running away! Grant me power, soil! Atomic Chips: activate square mode! Power! I'll build up FULL POWER!"

"Not like I'm going to let you. Get ready."

"Too late, Rock Man EXE! Now you die along with me! Say farewell!"

Bamboo Man glowed and detonated: the explosion engulfed the whole cage and made it explode while also hitting Blood Shadow and Sigma…

12:02 PM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 11th…

"… Huff, huff… Haah… Damn it! There's no tiring you?"

"Hmph… No… I've trained for years and fought strong opponents than you to begin with… Twilight was harder to chew…"

"Damn it! Twilight, Twilight…! The damned guy kept on stealing me the spotlight! I'll go hunt them next!"

"Hmpf. He'll come hunt you and I dunno what he's got in store for you lowlife but I don't care because either way you'll be judged by what you've done to the world."

"Judged? Hah! I'm above those pitiful weak humans! I'm evolution: I'm ultimate! Huh? I can't believe it's become 12 PM already!"

"Oh yeah. Time-Space flows different here. We've actually been fighting for about 30 minutes… But to the outside world it seems like it's been some hours already…"

"Whatever! Die already! Plasma Cannon! Double Round!"

Vadous and "CF" Takaisho were fighting inside of an eerie location which was a round rocky platform about 5 meters tall and 10 wide and which had irregular stalactite formations beneath its body.

This platform was in turn located inside of a larger spheroid the walls of which were colored purple and seemed to be some sort of energy: they looked eerie and creepy.

"CF" Takaisho shot two rounds of plasma at Vadous but he deflected them back and "CF" Takaisho barely dodged them.

"Damn it! I absorbed 4 Atomic Chips and I haven't won?"

"That's because you came expecting an easy fight won by displaying one or two moves and thinking I'd be the sitting duck who'd get them and be smashed up in one second. But I know better."

"It can't be! My organization is far above Nebula! It's the ultimate organization ever! Nothing can shadow its accomplishments!"

"Huff. Save me the madman speech."

"DIE~! Plasma Jet!"

"CF" Takaisho's attacks hit Vadous' armor but the energy was channeled outwards in the form of electrical bolts expanding outwards: Vadous merely drew his swords and crossed them.

"Double Thunder!"

The blast hit "CF" Takaisho who was loading up for a new attack and he howled as he stepped back.

"Your own arrogance and anger are clouding your judgment and you can't properly aim either. And I suspected you'd come for me so I prepared in advance using all field data on you collected by all Navis: I prepared EM fields and a system to vent off your plasma's energy too. You can use all Atomic Chips you want but the body will eventually turn unstable because it'll be like adrenaline which will eventually run out."

"Twilight! Damn it! The fucker sabotaged it all!"

"Oh no. Twilight didn't sabotage anything: you yourself are the saboteur because of your impatience, your lack of proper preparations and your arrogant thought that imitating the Darkloids would do. You haven't really bothered to do proper research."

"No! I'm perfect! I'm ultimate! I'm above those fools who blew up my best invincible immortal creation!"

"Napalm Man? Oh please. No Net Navi is immortal or invincible. Not even Omega and he's one of the best. And I'm sure that not even the almighty Duo was invincible but their power WAS beyond our capabilities. So I guess the only way to defeat them would be to take out their space-ship along with them." Vadous shrugged.

"I dunno… what you're talking 'bout… and I don't care!"

"You don't care: that's it. You didn't care to think things coolly, you didn't care to properly design your Navis and you didn't care about us evolving, improving and growing stronger."

"I'll destroy you! I'll bury you! I'll annihilate you! And then I'll be the world's ruler! No matter what!"

"I don't think Twilight will let you interfere with his "destiny": Maria wanted us "Demon Tribe" to rule the surface world while she ruled the underworld. So Twilight would come after you."

"What? What rubbish! A mere show like that of the DNN Studios won't defeat the invincible great me!"

"That wasn't a show: that was a real fight but you didn't try to acknowledge it for what it was and neglected to see my fighting skills thinking they were a show too. Regal would teach you a million lessons by now too. His Nebula had the advantage that most of today's defenders didn't exist or were too few to properly respond to the crises. But after having seen them, those two guys, Neo Gospel, Sidier's gang and Deadly Pandora roll out across the street… We were ready." Vadous calmly exposed.

"I'll crush you with my HANDS!"

"CF" Takaisho rushed for Vadous and tried to strangle him but Vadous was unaffected because the armor wouldn't bent or be crushed either: Vadous simply hit his waist with the swords' hilts by grabbing their blunt edges and delivered a kick to the right hip so that "CF" Takaisho would let go: the enemy began to punch him in a sloppy manner but didn't inflict any real damage either.

"Die! Die! You're supposed to die!"

"Supposed, supposed… Reality says otherwise."

"I control reality! I'm the world's ruler! I decide the weather and all! So you're going to die because I want you to DIE!"

"No one can control weather nowadays. Stop reading _Star Wars_ comics and try reading a manual on how to properly program Navis."

"You still have the guts to laugh at me? I'll erase that smug smile outta your face in a second from now! Plasma Punches! Eat these, you lowlife!"

His punches glowed with orange energy and he landed some blows on Vadou's armor but he didn't mind them: he began to pant and stepped back while Vadous took a step forward.

"I've begun to alter the Time-Space so that the "real" speed begins to slowly match that of this place… And which means that your body is starting to feel how it's been a while since you last ate something, you're continuously asking a lot of your own bodily strength, and it needs some energy." Vadous exposed.

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… Good work, _kyoudai_! But I'll deliver the _coup de grace_! This guy will get a trial, yeah, because IQ – sama wants to see them go through that humiliation! Learn the price to pay for standing up to the Underworld's Ruler!"

Twilight's Net Navi form suddenly appeared along with the Pokémon "Palkia" out of a glowing pink-like "tear" in space.

His Net Navi form design was highly reminiscent of Rock Man's one.

He wore a helmet with a mouth guard activated: his eyes' irises were visible and it could be seen that they were colored crimson red.

His chest emblem consisted on just two shades of black and white split by a horizontal grey line.

He had two curious shoulder pads which were shaped as two split halves of a diamond.

His main body's color was navy blue although the forearms and his boots were colored in purple.

A black smooth cape hung from the back of his shoulders and reached all the way to the floor as well as an add-on to his bodysuit.

"Twilight. So you finally show your real hide."

"Go, Palkia! Subspace Tear!"

"Palkia" made its body glow and swung the air to open a crack behind Vadous and pushed him inside before it closed.

"Twilight! I'll destroy you lowlife!"

"Hah! No… I'll simply send you to your new destination… When you land there the worldwide "DA" will be already gone because Hawk has been able to dispatch his plane fighters and use massive EMPs to fry most of the equipment but Morgan's heir retrieved most of the contents already by entering through the local Cyber World. There's no other place for you to die but PRISION! Be glad it ain't Arkham Asylum, though." He sneered at "CF" Takaisho.

"What the… Impossible!"

"Oh yeah. And when your "CF" form breaks apart then the armchair will reform with Plasma Man trapped inside: I already supplied the schematics so that they'll pull him out and seal him in a PET sans wireless capabilities to await trial along with you lowlife… It won't take much long: when it comes to terrorism Japan isn't going to waste time in stupid bureaucracy stuff… Heh, heh, heh! What a fitting end for you lowlife! Stripped of all power in a literal manner… And with your subordinates blowing up in vain because I tampered their power output and their "victims" ended up alive... They're necessary for the Pentagon Scheme!"

"Die~! Plasma Jet! Plasma Round! Plasma Punch! Plasma Tornado!"

Several attacks (including a tornado of plasma) landed on Twilight but he ignored them and had "Palkia" tackle "CF" Takaisho and then open wounds on his "CF" body chest with the claws.

"Satan Takaisho… Your _raison d'être _is over! You set the foundations for new-gen Navis: that much I'll recognize. But those who will form part of the Pentagon Scheme will be TENS of times ABOVE yours!"

"D-don't boast! Just die! DIE~!"

"Go, Palkia! Subspace Tear! Welcome to the Net Prison!"

The "tear" formed behind "CF" Takaisho and Palkia tackled them inside before it closed and Twilight laughed imitating another voice.

"I guess I win! _Kyoudai_! And soon… The Pentagon Scheme will begin!"


	19. Chapter 19: After the storm

**Chapter 19: After the storm**

15:55 PM (Japan Time), Saturday October the 11th…

"… What a fright! We barely made it out alive of this morning."

"Yeah… So, Charles… What did you want to tell us?"

"About Satan Takaisho, Atomic Network's mastermind… It happens that we already knew the guy…"

"Huh! Who exactly were they?"

"Well… A rogue Dark Land Secret Service agent…"

"What!"

The twins, Nelaus, Enzan, Laika Kifune, Manabe, Yuuichirou and Charles were present in a Net Police room where Charles was making a small conference: Nelaus had begun by sighing in relief, Netto called out for Charles, Manabe asked and Kifune gasped upon hearing the reply.

"They built Napalm Man."

"Whoa!" Netto whistled.

"And went rogue after Rock Man and Knight Man beat the guy: they were the arrogant type with their own "reality distortion field" which made them believe Napalm Man was invincible and all. The guy's behavior was a total copy of that of their creator." Davis continued as he materialized next to Charles.

"We happened to be in the Cream Land – Dark Land border on the day after the deletion, December the 5th, 2004… The day you were about to return to Japan… The guy was heading towards Cream Land but we didn't know that: we were trying to spy on the border outposts and try to figure out anything Dark Land was plotting…"

"And the guy showed up there?" Enzan guessed.

"Yeah. He was so mad that he busted the 3 outpost guards and drove through. I chased on my car and we entered a Cream Land road."

"That road ran along the coast: it was a rainy day on the north reaches and thus it was somewhat slippery… The guy had tried to shoot at us but we dodged because their aim was very poor… We'd taken a photo and I'd managed to hack into a database to find out their file hence why we knew where he was headed to: the capital city's airport…"

"… To try to assassinate Netto?" Laika guessed.

"No wonder." Netto wasn't surprised.

"What a…" Yuuichirou cursed.

"But then the car began to go out of control given the slippery road, bounced against a tree and then broke through the handrail and fell into the sea: I parked my car and knowing that the water wasn't even two meters deep, I jumped inside to try to get the guy out and then arrest them to bring them to the closest police station… I almost drowned there because the sea currents were stronger than I'd thought but luckily I'd had the caution of attaching a rope to my waist tied to the handrail: I pulled out after I saw that the car's driver window was open: I guessed the guy had tried to swim out to the surface but got caught by the currents and drowned… Thus I forgot all about the guy and nothing happened… But something odd began to happen…" Charles trailed off.

"What would that be?" Misaki asked.

"Well. All of a sudden some amateur terrorists tried to hit us by doing things like trying to poison the Justice Council HQ water supply, placing a bomb in Captain Sommerston's car or trying to assault Senator Pingole too and those happened once a week until February when Nebula began their campaign. At that time I was investigating the "Secret Empire" and some connections it had to politicians in Salt Lake City… By the time the "Crisis" began I'd just gotten back to Japan… And we did try to search but I tried searching Hokkaido and got nowhere… I decided that it was a dead end and then I heard the tale was over so…"

"But now we think Takaisho hired those guys to try to get rid of us because he surely thought we'd be important "interlopers" to his mad plans and schemes." Davis admitted.

"So that's how it was." Blues muttered.

"So? Where's the criminal?" Search Man asked.

"Didn't Vadous catch the guy?" Isaac asked next.

"Well. They began fighting in the "Dimensional Arena" but Twilight and Palkia showed up there. Twilight sent Vadous back to the HQ and then taunted Takaisho before opening a "Subspace Tear" and kicking the guy into it… He ended up in the main yard of the Net Prison and he'd mimicked Commissioner Kifune's voice to get everyone alert and ready to arrest the guy. Which they did. They're now in a cell and they're preparing everything for a trial." Charles detailed.

"So he wanted to humiliate him and have he go down in shame as a madman and psychopath, huh?" Kifune wasn't surprised.

"Plasma Man is stuck on that mechanical armchair thing but when they pull him out he'll be stuffed into an isolated PET and closed inside of a drawer…" Davis added.

"Say… He used a mechanical armchair as means to form his "Cross Fusion" because he didn't have a PET, right?" Netto asked.

"Yeah. Is there something you know?" Charles asked back.

"Well. In "Alternate" Rock Man's memories there was one on the day "Twilight Tower" rose and covered the world in a "DA" too… And Twilight used one to assume a form he named "Chaos Unison: Chaos Vadous" using that same armchair thing… It'd seem Regal had originally designed it so he copied it from the guy too… Maybe it was supposed to allow for other abilities…" Netto admitted.

"Well. That doesn't matter much anymore. Atomic Network is over: that's what matters." Saito shrugged.

"Correct. It's finally over. And Twilight will surely only show up to taunt us and pull that "Talon" thing on us but I don't think he'll do any moves regarding Maria yet because that'd be predictable." Charles shrugged.

"Good." Enzan grinned.

"By the way, Enzan… I got ahead of you." Laika grinned at him.

"Ahead of me?"

"I got here 5.33 minutes before you."

"Oh. That. And what if? It ain't like I'm a Galapagos turtle."

"No. You're a half-turtle half-hound." Laika joked.

"Hah, hah, hah. How original." He drily replied.

"My. It'd seem VP – sama is about to boycott my business."

"Why does Laika need to bring up that?" Blues wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to vent off the stress of barely surviving Grenadier Man's detonation. We ended up surviving with only 5 HP left and that applied to all of us." Search Man shrugged.

"Caasi! Let's go to Caasi Dnal!" Nelaus joked next.

"Isaac Land? Oh come on, Nelaus…"

"Arashi is _ayashii_!"

"He's suspicious? Oh come on! You're making a pun with his name: why did you need to bring up that? He's a nice fella and you know it! What's the answer?"

"Dunno. Maybe my joker alter-ego has woken up?"

"Yo! Sorry for the delay: our maintenance is over."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… Dragon's newest banner! "Of cabbages and ravages goes the grave-digger traveler"!"

Blood Shadow and Sigma returned to Saito's and Netto's PETs and Sigma used the chance to quote a new banner.

"That's… stupid. Even for me." Netto groaned.

"Welcome to the club, Netto – kun."

"I get the irony, Saito – niisan."

"Nam Ynori showed up with the 5:55 AM Liverpool Express!"

"Go tuna." Blood Shadow sighed.

"And mackerel and flounder and codfish and octopus! Octopus – han sure did deliver a scare to those guys! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez."

"Well. I'll be going: the "Justice Council" is going to hold a meeting and I want to tell everyone about the developments…"

"Let's go, Snatcher Leo."

"GHRKZHQ! Look who talks! _Hauptmann_ Bowman!"

"It's good that they're so dynamic." Kifune smiled.

"True, sir." Manabe giggled.

"Huff. At least it's over." Prism Man sighed in relief.

"Security is OK?" Misaki asked.

"Yes, sir. There was nothing odd, sir."

"Good."

"Good-bye!"

"_Bye-bye_."

Charles and Davis walked out while the others stood up because the meeting was over.

"Well! Let's go home and rest: today's been one of those long days."

"OK, Netto – kun. Papa! Why don't you come over too?"

"Why not… I need a break too."

"So! VP – sama: the _cappuccino_ coffee cup is waiting for Your Grace?"

"Jeez. Gimme a break already, Laika!"

"Break Man won't come & come: go & not go, Enzan. Heh, heh, heh!"

16:40 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. Who's come insofar?"

"Well. Apart from me… Commander Alamantz."

"I'm an early bird, gentlemen."

"No surprise over there, Charlie~ Team."

"Jeez. Go explore Io with Hal, Dave."

Charles and Davis entered a small meeting room having a central mahogany round table and ten seats set around it: Davis sat down on the northern seat looking towards the doors and Charles sat down to his right: there was a man sitting next to Davis on his left.

This man could be on his mid – 50s, and could be about two meters tall too.

He had Indian traits such as the face profile and the teal skin.

His face was covered in abundant black beard plus a slightly refined moustache while the black hair reached until the end of the neck: the eyes' irises were brown.

He wore boots, brown trousers and a pale brown vest.

"Now, now."

Nokay was another of the assistants of the meeting and was sitting at Alamantz's left.

"_Mamma mia_! What a morning! Are you alright, Charles? Sorry: I skipped formalities."

"Don't worry, Marius Pingole. I'm steel and dura-steel."

"Jeez. That of "dura-steel" is from _Star Wars_."

"Did ya say somethin', Dave~?"

Marius Pingole appealed as being on his early 30s and maybe close to a meter and eighty tall.

He had a thick brown moustache but no beard although his eyes' irises were blue.

He wore a sleeveless brown vest over a white shirt, shorts, black socks and white sneakers.

He picked his seat to Charles' right.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm as fast as an "F-Zero" vehicle!"

"No wonder, Captain Fred Sommerston."

Captain Sommerston was on his late 30s and over a meter and ninety tall: they had a good athletic figure too.

They wore a reddish plastic helmet with the initials "FS" colored golden set on the forehead: the helmet included black shades and round cavities over the ears which had a plastic grid to protect them.

They had a small black moustache growing beneath their nose but no beard: some black hair could be seen coming out from beneath the read edge of the helmet.

They wore a black suit with a tie and brown pants plus shoes.

His seat was three left of Davis and next to Nokay's one.

"Huff, huff! I'm on time, right?"

"Of course. Young Daniel Komero. The meeting wasn't supposed to begin until 17:00 PM! Have your seat… And, Captain… No scolding." Commander Alamantz warned Sommerston.

Daniel Komero was on his early 30s and had a body-builder type of body frame: his height could be a bit shorter than a meter and eighty.

He had messy brown hair and some traces of a rather poorly shaven beard and moustache: his eyes' irises were brown too.

As clothing he sported a brown open vest over a white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

He sat three seats right of Charles' own seat.

"_Buenas tardes_."

"Good afternoon: truly. Senator Lopez."

Lopez appealed to be on his late 20s.

His hair was blonde and he had some slight beard growing on the chin which seemed to fit him.

He wore a black suit with a blue tie, pants and shoes.

He picked his seat, two seats left of Charles' position and immediately next to Pingole.

"Those ID – locked weapons! They're EVERYWHERE! Twilight is hell-bent on recreating _MGS4_!"

"Whoa. We didn't know that, Senator McIrranay."

"By the Great Scott!"

McIrranay was a man on his early or mid 20s.

His hair's color was brown and he had a thick brown beard while his eyes' irises were blue.

One trait on him was a small scar which covered his right cheek.

He wore an open camouflage-color-patterned vest, a khaki shirt and jeans along with shoes.

His seat was placed left of Komero so he was directly in front of Davis across the table.

"Huff, huff… I came here in a rush… So? What happened? Is Atomic Network finally over?"

"Yeah, Senator Kaygon. The club's gathered."

Kaygon appealed as being on his mid-30s and close in height to Sommerston.

His hair color was black and he had a dense black beard while his eyes' irises were green.

He sported a sleeveless blue overcoat, jeans and shoes.

He sat right next to Sommerston and two left of Komero.

"Well! It turns out the culprit was Satan."

"The Devil?" Everyone gasped.

"Jeez. Satan Takaisho." Davis grumbled.

"But…!"

"He'd donned diving gear and an undersea propeller and then fled: he surely used cash to buy stuff and all and eventually got a fake passport to leave the country and begin preparing his "rise"." Charles summed up in a few words.

"By all the…"

"But the guy's been arrested and they're not a danger anymore! The crisis is over."

"Justice Council… The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… Despair!" A voice boomed out through Nokay's notebook computer.

"Heck. One of those jerks got here." Nokay cursed.

"CLOUD MA~N!"

"YIKES!"

"GHRZK! STOP SCREWING AROUND WHEN I'M ON THE MIDDLE OF A PHONE CALL! WILL YOU~?"

"R-roger, Twilight – sama… It shall not happen again!"

"Freeze Man! Keep that guy under check!"

"Roger, Twilight – sama."

"Now! Where were we at? Oh yeah."

"So it was Cloud Man pulling an irony but Twilight didn't appreciate him because he was talking with someone on the phone…"

"Suspicious…" Komero muttered.

"Maybe it's just Zoan Gate Man who wants to use a further secure line to report back?" Nokay suggested.

"It's not crazy. Maybe DK will throw them a barrel?" Sommerston grinned.

"Hmpf! So then… Maybe His Excellency will drive into their base with the Blue Falcon?" Komero grumbled back.

"Now, now. Order!" Commander Alamantz commanded.

"…the last time you mess around with that recording!" Freeze Man was scolding Cloud Man and he didn't seem to realize that the line was still open.

"You interrupt the battle meditation!" Yamato Man grumbled.

"And you interrupt my training." Swallow Man complained.

"How can you have steeped so low?" Cosmo Man demanded.

"W-well, I thought that…" Cloud Man tried to defend himself.

"Lower your voice!" Freeze Man hissed.

"R-roger."

The line was cut and the group sighed in relief.

"Hmmm… Maybe he was organizing further distribution of these ID – locked weapons… This would allow him to easily control weapons and their users as well because each weapon would be linked to one person and only one. He must've hijacked some super-computer to run a database which allows him to see in real time weapon usage… It would be a good move to avoid further club-wars." McIrranay guessed.

"Bah. Let's forget about them. Today is a day to celebrate! I brought some champagne over." Charles grinned.

"Justice will be carried out!" Davis rallied.

"Justice!" Everyone chorused.

17:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! Atomic Network is over, Past?"

"Yes, Priest – sama… I just listened to the Justice Council's meeting and they confirmed it… I'll dispatch a compiled report in the next 24 hours as well to the secure address…"

"Excellent."

"Eh… Can I ask something, Priest – sama?"

"Yeah! Go ahead."

"We… Well. We wouldn't be like those guys, right?"

"No. Our goal wouldn't be to delete anyone. In fact… I'm not sure if there'd a real goal to begin with… Maybe it'd more like a field exercise to prove them what we're capable of…"

"I see. That relieves me, sir."

"Of course: you'd hold nothing back in Net Battles but then again the goal wouldn't be to delete anyone. Just to fight with strategy and as fair as possible…"

"Good. That relieves me…"

"Past" was standing in a balcony somewhere and given how the curtain giving access to it was flickering then they couldn't be properly seen from behind: he was apparently communicating with someone over their PET and pacing left and right from time to time.

"Yeah. Don't worry… Not like I'm a cruel type of guy… I found a person who seemed to have a good profile to be a member… Their codename is "Ancient"… Their Navi's initials are "RM"…"

"Ancient… _Inishie_…? I see."

"But they will operate slightly differently: they're not of your age group but then again "Present" isn't either."

"Ancient, Past and Present… What'll be next? Future? Mwroh, hoh, hoh."

"Oh. _Partner_. Stay quiet for a bit, will cha?"

"My bad… I feel excited with this news… I'll be able to meet and see what kind of guy that Navi is, Priest – sama?"

"Yeah. But both of you will use disguises. You mustn't draw attention yet and you must retain your cover… The project I'm on working demands a lot of time and energy so just send me a weekly report on Fridays and unless I explicitly say otherwise continue as you were. And try to interact with others too: don't try to pretend to be nice. Be as you are."

"That's what I've been doing ever since a month ago, sir."

"Good. Unit B: AM has something to tell to you."

"This is AM. Unit B: remember to switch colors and design every time you go out… And try to avoid getting into trouble…"

"Well, AM – dono, it's not like I love getting into trouble."

"I know. But one must be careful. You never know."

"Mwroh, hoh, hoh, hoh. OK, _Danna_ – sama~…"

"Good. Thank you for allowing me to pass this message, Priest – sama."

"Don't mind it: you're my colleague too, AM. Remember that."

"Understood, sir."

"By the way! I almost forgot to say this, Priest – sama, but… I've figured out that Twilight's 5 subordinates now exist as consciousness programs which can travel across the Cyber World undetected and can form holograms to interact with others… The idea is taken from the 4 _Space Odyssey_ books by Arthur C. Clarke…"

"Oho. I've read all of them myself. They're very good… And I can guess what you meant to say: the idea is copied from those "first-born" aliens that created the monoliths and long ago evolved into matter-less existences, their thoughts and consciousness forever preserved in the atomic structure of the cosmos… Formless life: just minds roaming across the cosmos forever… That's why Twilight had them survive like that."

"Oh! I see. So it's supposed to be an evolution, sir?"

"The ultimate evolution: to be free of the limitations and weaknesses of all matter… And become _Gods_… Their own machines built to be eternal: the Monoliths stationed in the Solar System survived over 3 _million_ years without a single scratch or blow and were fully functional… That's why Davis EXE designed those Battle Chips to repel anything which approaches them: they repel anything which might harm them."

"Incredible!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Isn't it? Well. I've got to get back to work: remember to send me a report by this Friday."

"Roger, sir."

"_See you later_."

The line disconnected and "Past" sighed as he seemingly stretched.

"I can't complain. This city is way better than Kobe was. And those guys are nice guys. Oh well. I guess I should finish the homework for Monday and Tuesday." He muttered.

"Mwroh, hoh, hoh, hoh… And then Nam Krowemoh will solve it for you while you enjoy the newest _Simpsons_ episode?"

"I never watched the _Simpsons_ and you know it, _partner_."

"Kidding ya~… Mwroh, hoh, hoh, hoh!"

"Well. I don't mind it if you're being dynamic but you sometimes sound like Sigma to begin with: aren't you imitating him a lot?"

"Ask Nam Ebyam."

"Maybe Man? That's LAME. And you know it! Why don't you quit it already? It's starting to exasperate me to begin with."

"Mwroh, hoh, hoh, hoh! Don't worry~… I'm off to Wookieepedia to gain more knowledge 'bout cool Boba Feet."

"Alright. But don't mess it up either… Time to get to work! Let's go!"

17:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Tee, heh, heh!"

"So? Why did you call me to the tree-house, Yaito – chan?"

"I've got an idea for ya, Meiru – chan! _Girl's idea_!"

"What's it about, then?"

"It'll do well to have Netto – kun behave!"

"That doesn't sound good."

"Don't be so grim in life, _ojousama_~!"

Meiru had been called by Yaito into her tree-house and Yaito got into a good mood so she began to get suspicious.

"Take a seat!"

"Fine. It better not be some joke."

"Nope! What I suggest is that you _rule_ over the guy."

"What? Become a _dominatrix_ mistress? Twilight taunted me into that but my answer hasn't changed: NEVER is the answer." She fumed.

"Ya lack thrill on life~!"

"I don't. Where'd you get the idea from? Did Twilight's mistress secretly email you with the idea or what?" She questioned with obvious suspicion and looking like she had a hunch.

"Alright. I was kidding. No. What happens is that I've organized a hide-and-seek game in Internet City tomorrow."

"Ah! That sounds better."

"Unless there's something hidden on it?" Roll looked suspicious.

"Yaito – sama… I don't know what "dominatrix" means but it surely isn't anything legal, miss… It shouldn't be wise to bring it up, miss…"

"Don't worry, Pennyworth Jr.!"

"P-Pennyworth Jr.?"

"It's a _Batman_ joke because Bruce Wayne's manservant is named Alfred Pennyworth." Roll clarified to him with a sigh and rolling her eyes.

"Nope! That game doesn't have anything hidden to it. Rock Man – chan will take care of seeking for everyone inside of Internet City's territory to begin with so… Who knows? Maybe he and Roll – chan will go to somewhere apart and…?" She trailed off in purpose.

"Yaito – chan!" Meiru was annoyed now.

"Yaito – san!" Roll protested.

"Tee, heh, heh. My bad. I feel in a good mood today."

"That isn't something to make jokes out of!"

"But Navis don't have the risk of "that _scenario_" happening, see~?"

"Nevertheless! Rock Man is a decent boy. He's never done anything perverted regarding Roll. They're just classmates: why are you like those forums in which everyone is mad to come up with new _anime_ series pairings, anyway?" Meiru scolded Yaito.

"Dunno. Maybe because I really am… A _bad girl_. Tee, heh, heh."

"If there's nothing else to be said then I'm going back: it isn't 6 on the afternoon yet so I've got time to solve the homework. And you'd better prepare for the upcoming exams 2 weeks from now."

"Really! I'm fed up with these sexist jokes."

"Who wouldn't? And here I thought Yaito – chan wasn't the type."

Meiru walked out of the tree-house and closed the door while Yaito giggled and drank some strawberry milk from a bottle with a straw.

"Meiru – chan has temper! She's a _strong girl_. Tee, heh, heh."

"Yaito – sama, miss…! I see no point on that, miss." Glye insisted.

"Oh? Did ya say somethin', Pennyworth Jr.? I'm a genius! Tee, heh, heh!"

09:19 AM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 12th…

"… Alright. We've all gathered?"

"Yes. I checked the list."

"This is going to be fun!"

"Guess so, Netto – kun."

Rock Man, Glyde, Roll, Ice Man, Guts Man, Aqua Man, Number Man, Isaac, Blood Shadow and Sigma had gathered in Internet City's central plaza and Glyde had a list with some "check" symbols next to each of their names: the Operators had opened their screens too save for Sigma and Blood Shadow.

"OK! Rock Man. You must count up to 100 while we hide. You can hide anywhere as long as it's inside of the Internet City limits. If you can find us in less than 30 minutes then you win."

"Alright!"

"Let's go, everyone!" Glyde rallied.

They all began to run off while Rock Man covered his eyes with his right hand and began to count up while grinning.

"… 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99… 100! OK! _Game: start_!"

"_Duel: start_!" Netto joked.

"Jeez. Netto – kun. Gimme a break."

"Heh, heh, heh. Did ya say somethin', Rock Man – sama~?"

"Jeez. You've gotten cocky already."

Rock Man walked out: he looked into a side alley and found a big bulk covered with a blanket, which he tugged off.

"Sorry, Guts Man! I found you!"

"Guts! This was supposed to be a perfect hideout, de guts!" Guts Man gasped.

"Netto! Ya used some weird Battle Chip to find Guts Man!"

"Oh come on. Even Ice Man would've realized this."

"Guts… Guts Man will go back home…"

"Next time I won't lose! I'll use Stealth Camouflage!"

"Then we'll look closely and spot the diffraction of light caused by it: not even stealth camouflage is 100% reliable." Netto grinned.

Rock Man had paced down a street and he entered a cold storage building where he found a cardboard box in the middle of it and which had been flipped over: he lifted it and found Ice Man who'd been sitting inside of it: he grinned.

"Desu! I got found."

"Guess I was too obvious." Tooru admitted.

"Hey. But at least you used Snake's good old buddy." Netto grinned.

"Jeez. Ever since Sigma introduced us to _MGS_ you've been pulling off jokes out of that." Rock Man rolled his eyes.

"Well. Let's go back, Ice Man."

"Desu!"

Rock Man stepped out and reached a small plaza with a fountain on its center: the fountain had an "Under Maintenance" banner on it but a sprout of water was popping out from it nevertheless so Rock Man opened the central column's door and found Aqua Man there.

"Aqua Man! I found you.

"Pyurururu. Rock Man found Aqua Man, pyu."

"Not my lucky day…" Shuuko muttered.

"Come on, Shuuko – san. It's not like the world will end out of this." Netto told her with a smile.

"Guess so… Well, Aqua Man… Come back anytime but be careful."

"Next goes…"

Rock Man entered an e-book store and found a pile of them which had fallen off a bookcase's shelves and buried something underneath them: he removed them and uncovered Number Man.

"You wanted to know the secret behind E=MC2, Number Man?"

"Well, yes. I'll be going back to the store. Good job insofar."

"De masu~! Number Man: did those e-books tell you how to properly date Mariko – sensei?" Higure eagerly asked.

"No. Descend into Earth, Yamitarou."

"Ua~h!"

CRASH!

"He was standing atop the counter…" Shuuko muttered.

"Higure – san…" Rock Man and Netto sighed.

Rock Man continued and spotted a clothing store: there were some cabins to change there and Rock Man merely stayed outside of the store until he cleared his throat and Roll came out of one of them sporting a pink _kimono_ with roses drawn into it.

"Does it fit, Rock Man?"

"Sure, Roll – chan."

"Roll wanted one for this year's Halloween party." Meiru admitted.

"Guess Rock Man will come up with something… Sneaky."

"Oh come on. Netto – kun. Be realistic."

"Well then… You've got 18 minutes left, Netto. _Good luck_."

"Thanks, Meiru – chan."

"See you around, Roll – chan."

"Yeah, _darling_. Tee, heh, heh!"

Rock Man rolled his eyes and continued as he frowned.

"Huh… Glyde, Blood, Sigma, Isaac… 4 left."

"The _shitenou_?" Netto joked next.

"How funny." Rock Man drily replied.

He ran down some streets until he reached a five-star restaurant Internet locale to make reservations.

"Glyde! I know you're reserving a table for Yaito – chan in there." He called out without stepping in.

"Correct. You're doing fine. You still have 11 minutes." Glyde admitted as he walked out.

"Heh! Daddy's preparing a party for his birthday next week and I reserved at an exclusive French restaurant." Yaito admitted.

"Well then. Good luck."

"Thanks."

"And kiss Roll when you're done."

"E~H? Yaito – chan!" He blushed.

"Tee, heh, heh. Caught cha."

"Yaito – chan. That wasn't funny." Netto didn't find it funny.

"Yaito – sama…!" Glyde smacked his forehead out of exasperation.

Rock Man ignored their discussion and climbed into the Silver Tower to find Sigma crouching behind some emitter antennae.

"Boo."

"Oho. Rockie~ found me, eh? Guess it was to be expected. I'm off to haunting Higure Yamitarou with my Mirroring Curse!"

"Don't overdo it either." Netto sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Don't worry~… See ya~…"

"Alright. 2 left. If I know Isaac…"

"He's at Jerusalem."

"Don't make silly puns. Just because his name is typical of Israel that doesn't mean he's there." Rock Man scolded.

He reached the Internet City Coliseum and spotted Isaac watching a match between two Navis and the Crushing Military Brothers.

"Yo. Isaac."

"Hey. Rock Man. I got engrossed and forgot to hide."

"We're not perfect." Nelaus shrugged.

"6 minutes left. Good. I can make it on time and I think I know where Blood is hiding at. Later." Rock Man smiled.

"Later."

"And beware of Non Crushing Non Military Non Brothers!"

"How stupid." Isaac fumed.

Rock Man reached a warehouse and found the interior to have several improvised barricades.

"Blood. You wanted to recreate the New Mombasa Battle?"

"Heh! Guess that, yeah. So I'm last?"

"Yeah. You can go back: there's something I want to check close by."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I think Blues sneaked into the game and wants me to find him…"

"Oho. Alright. Then I'll be going back."

"Make sure Sigma doesn't overdo it." Netto warned.

"Don't worry. Commander Omega will drop by to check."

"Good. Let's go say hi to _Buruusu_."

"OK!"

Rock Man stepped out of this warehouse and stepped into the one right next to it where some crates were stocked there: he looked around and grinned.

"Hiya~! Blues. I know you're here: come out and let's go surprise the others."

A sudden loud ear-piercing hum rang out and Rock Man brought his hands to his ear-pads out of instinct to block it: he heard someone stepping in nevertheless so he drew the Rock Buster.

"Who the…?"

"Resal."

"Resal?"

The figure known as "Resal" had stepped into the warehouse and was standing quiet about 2 meters from Rock Man.

_This guy jammed my line with Netto – kun but will make the same mistake Bamboo Man did yesterday: I can use the O – Program and "temp" PAs or Battle Chips. I've learnt to be ready to fight on my own if they try to jam my signal. The Mirror Dome thing with Beast Man was enough of a lesson for me and so was the Sea Tower._

"Mercenary for hire…"

"And Plasma Man did get to hire you before he got arrested."

"Correct! Rock Man EXE!"

"You sound a lot like the guy."

"Ironies of life, I guess."

"But then you're making the same mistake Bamboo Man did yesterday."

"I know you can use "temp" directory programs to fight alone."

"Then you must be pretty confident in your power."

"Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah… I found it."

"What? Huh… I'm feeling like something deep inside of me is suddenly pulsating and is starting to explore my systems…?"

"Hah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah… Soon enough…"

Rock Man's chest emblem began to pulsate with a faint purple intermittent glow and he clutched it as he dropped into his knees and into his fours as if he lacked strength: some parts of his skin began to gain a purple coloring.

"What in the… The Dark Chip which we used 3 years ago and allowed Shirakami to take over my body…! I thought we'd destroyed it when we expelled him from inside of it…!" He gasped.

"No! What you expelled was Shirakami's program but the Dark Chip remained there, devoid of any power or energy… But over time it rooted into you and began to slowly absorb your energy to wait for the moment of awakening… Which has come…!"

"You… You're no mercenary! There's only one Navi which would want to reuse that strategy of 3 years ago… Only one Navi who'd gain something from it because… Nebula got dismantled…! And that's… YOU!"

"No more games! It's about time I got serious. By the way! Didn't you folk play a game of mirroring people's names? I applied that to myself!"

"Then…! Resal is really read as… _Laser_! _Laser Man_!"

"Hah!"

In effect: once he pulled off the cloak and hood it turned out that Laser Man was the identity of the individual.

"But how…? Dr. Regal never had any chance to rebuild you: he's been under Net Police monitoring all this time!"

"Dr. Regal – sama was a cautious man! He predicted he could end up arrested if he did a slip so he prepared a system which would store in real time my memories and experiences plus a _spare body_ just in case."

"And when Shirakami deleted you then… You got re-installed into your _spare body_!"

"Yes! But seeing how things were like I decided the best would be to make all of you folk believe I was a goner. Thus I came up with that nickname and the disguise and sneaked into the underworld as a bounty hunter or mercenary which would demand a high fare for their services but always finished jobs in less than 4 hours bringing my efficiency rate to 100%: the biggest fishes hired me to do all kinds of jobs…"

"And you built up a fortune for Regal to use when the time to rebuild Nebula would come…!"

"And you will be part of this rebuilt Nebula too! As my servant…!"

"Gruh! That damned consciousness program is trying to lock down mine but my internal defenses are holding out…!"

"Not for much longer."

"Do not underestimate the power of Rock Man's mind. I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"What? Twilight!"

Twilight in person had suddenly appeared behind Laser Man and leaning against the warehouse's door in a lazy manner: Zoan Gate Man stood to his right with the arms crossed too.

"So! Rock Man. What did "laser" stand for?" Twilight challenged.

"Huff, huff… Light Amplified by Simulated Emission of Radiation Man! I won't lose to you!"

"That's…"

Laser Man sighed and brought up his right hand: he closed the thumb and index finger to make a sign.

"…couldn't you just say "laser"? It's been accepted as a loose word and most people don't realize the origin, anyway." He sounded slightly defeated, for once.

"Hruk! You think you're the Death Star's hyper-matter laser."

"No." He grumbled.

"Hrgruk! I won't lose to the likes of you!"

"Hmmm? Ah. D'Artagnan came. As scheduled."

Twilight snickered and exited the Cyber World along with Zoan Gate Man just as the door got kicked open.

"Vaccine Chip: Fire!"

A spheroid of white energy shot across the room and hit Rock Man's chest emblem as he'd managed to sit on his knees: some streaks of white light jumped out of his chest emblem and soothing blue light travelled across his body erasing the purple patches: Rock Man panted and managed to stand up somehow to see Omega in the doorway and having his gun drawn and ready.

"Damn it! Omega! How dare you get in MY way?"

"I dare. And someone here has some objections."

"Laser Man."

"D-Dr. Regal – sama!"

Dr. Regal opened his communications screen and didn't look in the best of moods to begin with so Laser Man seemed to lose some confidence.

"… Look. It's been over 3 years, Laser Man and… Nebula was a mistake. A sin I must atone for. I got arrogant there."

"T-that's…"

"Will you obey me?"

"Of course, Dr. Regal – sama! I serve you, sir, no matter what."

"Then you'll come to this address… And I'll have to change some bits of your code… We need to talk A LOT."

"R-roger, sir… Grrrr… You folk got lucky…! But it won't happen twice!"

Laser Man begrudgingly got retrieved while Omega walked over to Rock Man and helped him lean on him to walk out of the building.

"O-Omega… How did you…?"

"Well. It turns out Zero had spotted that guy several times and after some investigation he deduced it could be Laser Man… His suspicions got confirmed once he explored the Nebula HQ computers… The space station thing is still under NASA custody at Cape Canaveral… So he reported to me and I suspected he could try to come after you… When Ayanokouji began this game I suspected that it was a ploy to remove Blood and Sigma without anyone suspecting… And to lure you out… Ayanokouji got a fake mail which was apparently written by Sakurai in which she invited her to use her idea as if it'd been Ayanokouji's. Ring a bell?"

"Just like how the fake mail which lured Jade Panther into taking over the DNN Studios…! Laser Man learnt of it and copied it… That stubborn Light Amplified by Simulated Emission of Radiation Man!"

"I'm surprised you can say that whole thing without getting stuck."

"Guess my stubbornness helps me… Huff, huff… Too close, though…"

"Yeah… Our bad… We should've checked your systems further but we never thought of it… Anyway… The jamming is gone so get back home and forget this… The Net Police will decide what we do with the guy."

"OK… Netto – kun… Plug Out."

"Roger, Saito – niisan. Phew. Too close, really… Plug Out!"

"Heh, heh, heh… So D'Artagnan saves the day."

"Zoan Gate Man. I've still got a score to settle with you. Get ready."

"Yikes! Remote Gate!"

Zoan Gate Man tried taunting Omega but when he glared at him he quickly fled the spot: Omega shrugged and walked away.

_Phew. It's over at last. Twilight will play with us but he'll surely not be able to come up with anything big either… Time for a deserved break! Heh._


	20. Chapter 20: Finale

**Chapter 20: Finale**

12:44 PM (Japan Time), Sunday October the 12th…

"… Hum! The tables are neat and clean."

"Good, Hinoken. Customers will soon come."

"I think I look decent enough."

"_Oh yes! It's magnificent_!"

"Phew. He seems to have cooled down."

"Let's hope he doesn't get another bad mood moment…"

"Tee, heh, heh. I foresee mayhem!"

"Oh come on."

The Maha Ichiban's staff was getting ready for the lunch time: Hinoken had cleansed the tables, Maha was cooking, Madoi had combed her hair a bit and Count Elec was playing the guitar: the Navis seemed relieve that the atmosphere was stable.

"Oho! An early bird."

Hinoken eyed a figure coming closer from the street so he closed his eyes and grinned.

"Welcome to Maha Ichiban's! Here you'll find excellent curry!"

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh…"

"HUH? WHAT?"

The "customer" happened to be Freeze Man who stood on the doorway while grinning before turning around and running out: Hinoken gave chase and he cursed under his breath.

"Wait there~! Freeze Man! You lowlife! I'll defeat you yet!"

"Hinoken – sama: rushing in without…"

"…a strategy? Whatever! I'll use Program Advances and it'll be over!"

"But I think that…"

"No "buts"! It's Freeze Man! You must have you vengeance!"

"No good."

Freeze Man's form suddenly turned transparent and Hinoken frowned while Fire Man shrugged.

"He's in the Cyber World and using the hologram to taunt you, sir."

"Che! Plug In! Fire Man, Transmission!"

He aimed at a nearby street light and Fire Man got inside of the Cyber World: he opened his screen.

"I see the target." He reported.

"Good! Don't lose sight of them! Huff, huff… Damn it! Running was never my forte! I gotta ask Meijin how he stays in shape!"

Hinoken reached a warehouse and ran inside but Freeze Man had vanished out of sight: he heard a pair of giggles and spotted both Netto and Saito standing in front of the wall right next to the entrance: Hinoken grumbled and seemed to suspect what had happened.

"Huh! Netto? Saito? What's this about?"

"It's a joke we came up with!" Netto grinned.

"Look there!"

"What in the…?"

Hinoken spotted a remote-controlled toy car with a device about the size of a tennis ball strapped into its body.

"Freeze Man was a hologram and he wasn't in the Cyber World! He could run because you only saw the guy and didn't spot the car which was being piloted by Blood and Sigma!"

"I call this the cleverest prank ever." Saito grinned.

"You…!"

"Hi-no-ken!"

"Yikes! D-Dr. Wily – sama!"

Wily stepped in while rubbing the right side of his moustache and looking rather amused.

"I'll admit that I'm the promoter of this joke."

"WHAT?"

"I knew it." Fire Man sighed.

"Father… Didn't you overdo it?"

"Shah, shah, shah! It's brilliant!"

Yuriko stepped in and Needle Man grinned while Wily kept on chuckling under his breath: Blood Shadow's and Sigma's holograms grinned at Hinoken who fumed and headed away.

"So? What was the ruckus about?" Miyabi asked as he came in and looked unimpressed.

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… Our enigmatic Rotcod Yliw prepared a trap for the fierce Onih Ihcinek." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Please…" Miyabi groaned.

"By the way: what will you do with Laser Man?" Saito asked.

"Huh! Well… For the time being he will be kept under custody until a decision is reached… But maybe we will rewrite his personality a bit to remove his hostility and Regal will try to have him contribute… He will be, of course, monitored."

"I see. Well! We'll be on our way: we've got an appointment."

"Let's pick this and be on our way, Netto – kun."

Saito picked the car and he and Netto walked out while Miyabi headed away, Wily chuckled, Yuriko sighed and Needle Man grinned.

"Shah, shah, shah! That was a clever trap! Yessir! Shah, shah, shah!"

13:57 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hum! There's company."

"Yay! There are sentries!"

"How do we tackle them, Mr. X?"

"Nelaus… I dunno where ya get those ideas…"

"_MGS_!"

"Lovely."

"I know. Join the club."

"CF" Netto and "CF" Nelaus along with Trill were glancing at a corridor where some guards could be seen chatting: "CF" Nelayus began joking to the combined exasperation of both Isaac and Rock Man.

"Leave it up to me…" "CF" Netto grinned.

"OK, Boss. Show me the ropes."

"CF" Netto formed a banner which read "Tomb Raider Film" and glued it to a nearby door which he opened to hide them behind its body.

"O~i~! Tomb Raider's on the TV!

"Seriously!"

"Whoa~h! I'm not missing this!"

"Let's go!"

The three of them rushed inside and "CF" Netto locked the door while they ran down the corridor and up a flight of stairs.

"Yay! We tricked the sentries!" Trill giggled.

"Your turn, Trill."

"Yay!"

Trill headed for a nearby sentry and formed an African mask over him.

"Mister!"

"Huh? Who…? MUGRHA~RGH! RUN FOR IT! WE'RE CURSED!"

The guard ran as if he was gonna be slaughtered alive and the group advanced further down the corridor: "CF" Nelaus headed for a nearby sentry and made him meet the floor by tackling his legs from behind and making him lose the balance.

"OK. Let's get to the goal!"

They ran into a nearby room which contained a pole which had a yellow flag with the blue word "GOAL" attached to it: the group touched it and some 3D letters materialized in the air.

"GOAL!"

The world suddenly was replaced by a bluish space with various circuitry pathways converging towards a white round "gateway" further inside: they floated and flew up to the phenomenon.

"Back home we go~…" "CF" Netto made up a rhyme.

"Through the hyper-space lane~…" "CF" Nelaus added.

"Yay!"

"Oh come on." Both Navis didn't like the rhymes to begin with.

A white glow engulfed them before it cleared and it was revealed that both were standing inside of a cubical room somewhere having a green and black matrix covering the walls along with a "Dimensional Area" and two entry/exit doors as well.

"Yay!"

A holographic screen popped out in front of them:

VR SIMULATOR

MODE: CUSTOMIZER

LEVEL: NORMAL

TIME: 05:56

RANK: A

USERS: N. RAINON, ISAAC, H. NETTO, ROCK MAN EXE, TRILL

HAVE A NICE DAY!

"OK!"

"Yessir!"

Their "Cross Fusions" got released and both retrieved their PETs: the matrix and the "DA" faded to reveal plain steel walls and they stepped outside into a curved metallic corridor.

This corridor had some arches built at some points across its height and had fluorescent tubes installed in the ceiling: some doors were located at both sides of it.

Iris was waiting for them there already.

"Hello."

"Hey. Iris. It's nice to see you again." Netto greeted.

"Trill had fun." Nelaus admitted.

"Yay! They ran!"

"I see. Well. As long as you have fun… The TV series is about to start so let's get going to see it, Trill."

"Yay! See ya~!"

"Trill's a nice boy." Rock Man smiled.

"Yeah. It's fun to tag with him in the VR Missions."

"Let's go meet Blood and Sigma: they must be about to end their _Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes_ multi-player match." Netto suggested.

"Lead the way, Admiral."

"Heh, heh, heh. OK. Follow me, _fellas_."

"Netto – kun... Just lead the way!" Rock Man sighed.

"It drives you mad, really." Isaac admitted.

"Omega's waiting down at the docking bay to fly us back home~…"

"Fly and dry~…"

"Fly and dry…? Jeez." Isaac looked like he thought it was dry and lame.

"Totally." Rock Man agreed with him.

The group reached a room labeled "GAME ROOM: SIGMA & BLOOD" and knocked on it: Sigma opened the door and chuckled.

"I won 5 matches and he won 4!"

"Well. No – one's lucky forever." Blood Shadow shrugged.

"How's Vadous – san?" Netto asked.

"He's cooled down and doesn't mind what Twilight does anymore: he seems to be reading Dan Brown's books." Blood Shadow admitted.

"_Digital Fortress_ picked me 'cause it's about computers and all!"

"… Pentagon… 5… 5 Navis… I'm afraid there'll be more trouble soon enough…"

Vadous (having removed the helmet and the facial protection) was walking down the corridor and muttering aloud without seemingly realizing the others' presence.

"Huh… Boss?" Sigma called out.

"Huh? Ah. You guys." He calmly looked up.

"Is there some problem?" Nelaus asked.

"Twilight. The ass-hole...!"

"What's he done?"

"More like what he's doing. He told Takaisho that the Navis which would be involved in some "Pentagon Scheme" would be better than his."

"Pentagon Scheme! And Charles did tell us Twilight had been talking with someone over the phone when he was trying to pull pranks but he was too loud and ended up pissing the guy off." Netto muttered.

"I know. So I think that the moron is up to something with some other party to create 5 new advanced Net Navis…"

"Lovely. One trouble after the other…" Nelaus groaned.

"Yeah. Ever since Neo Gospel…" Rock Man sighed.

"Not like we can do much about it…" Isaac admitted.

"Sadly…" Blood Shadow sounded slightly defeated.

"Meh! 5 Navis. It'll be like beating the 5 guys of the summer again: that's all there's to it!" Sigma tried to rally them.

"Well. You brought up a good point, Sigma. By the way… Is it me or Dragon changed banners AGAIN?"

"Yeah, Boss… "Oh young one. The road goes on and ends at the cliff: pledge to the Sea God and be granted strength." … I think it's some irony or other but then again…" Sigma explained.

"Pledge to the Sea God…? Sounds weird… Ah. Whatever. We'll just bust them and try to figure out what stuff they're made from whenever they appear." Vadous shrugged and seemed to improve his mood.

"OK! Then let's go back to Akihara Town. Rumble and crumble~…"

"Sail and rail…" Nelaus continued.

"Mock and rock…" Sigma improvised.

"JEEZ!" The other 3 Navis complained.

"Really… You guys… Why do you need to make up those rhymes?"

"They're dynamic, Vadous – san!"

"Sure, Mr. Vadous!"

"They're fashionable, Boss!"

"Fashionable… I never understood that: including that fashion of wearing jeans at a lower height so that your boxers are exposed when you lift the shirt or when you sit down… Please… Aren't boxers "intimate clothes" to begin with?" Vadous sighed.

"Hey. I don't go by that fashion so don't criticize me!" Netto defended himself.

"I don't understand it either. Or that fashion of shaving both sides of the head and leaving a central band of hair… Why must people do that to their hair, anyway? It's a gift from Nature." Nelaus rolled his eyes.

"Or piercings… Aren't they painful?" Saito looked like he didn't understand that concept.

"Or tattoos which you then can't remove or painful to remove... People can stick up with weird behaviors when they feel like it." Isaac sighed in defeat.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Nam Noihsaf strikes back!"

"Be quiet, Sigma."

"Huff. I'm off to my room: I need something to cool off and the answer is Solitaire Spider. See you around."

"Let's go too." Netto rallied.

"Go and not go! Not go and go!" Sigma made a rhyme.

"Hmpf. So you're the Rhyme Them All Man?" Blood Shadow drily asked.

"You guys… Are you coming or not?" Omega asked over the radio.

"We're coming: be there in 5 minutes…" Netto replied.

"Good. I was starting to grow impatient."

"Hurry it up Sigma or you'll be left behind." Nelaus rallied.

"Mwah, hah, hah! OK, _fellows_! _Let's go~_! _Imagine~ walking pizzas_!"

"Imagine walking pizzas? Sigma… Stop making up random stuff already!"

15:15 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Good… The arrangements are completed and I'll soon move there to help you with the programming… The strategy is already laid on place by the sponsors and it's a good one…"

"I am glad to know it, Dr. Twilight."

"Heh. Sorry if you've been forgotten in these recent years…"

"Don't mind it, sir. My current employer recognized my potential and I haven't disappointed him, sir."

Twilight (using his human appearance) was speaking with someone over the phone as he sat on the Melbourne house's living room sofa and looked out at the sunny day as he distractedly tapped the sofa's right armrest from time to time.

"Heh, heh, heh… You won't mind if prepare a "certain" room for one of the Pentagon Scheme Navis?" Twilight grinned.

"I don't think our sponsors will object, sir." The man on the other end of the line replied.

"Good… I'll leave the other details up to you guys… But that idea of having them act overseas first and then moving them to Japan is a good one to begin with… Maybe it'll call for the attention of a young fox that must be eager to finally get to shine… Heh, heh, heh."

"That sounds rather interesting, Doctor."

"Isn't it? You don't mind if I nickname you "G" for the time being just to be on the safe side, right?"

"No, Doctor. Please do as you like, sir."

"Good… We'll be in contact, G. _Comrade_."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Twilight finished the call and sneered as he placed the phone atop the desk and began to interact with the laptop.

"You see, you guys… I'm afraid some guys will be taking up the spotlight soon enough but since I arranged for it then we'll end up winning… They'll fulfill a duty…" He told them.

"Oh? Intriguing. So… What would the catch be?" Freeze Man asked.

"Heh! The guys out there will soon realize I'm involved but they won't realize about the "sponsors" of this Pentagon Scheme… They will gain a lot and it will be beneficial for us to get a slice of the cake too."

"Sounds like a high-level strategy…" Cosmo Man looked amused.

"Heh! Leave it to Twilight – sama to come up with something brilliant."

"Yeah. You're right on that, Cloud Man." Swallow Man sneered.

"Heh, heh, heh… A new campaign will begin!" Yamato Man chuckled aloud.

"Zoan Gate Man: have you compiled the Legion 64 reports?"

"Affirmative, Twilight – sama. It'd seem that Vadous and the Justice Council are starting to smell something but Vadous just thinks he'll beat the 5 of them easily while the others think you're involved into controlling the underworld with the ID – locked weapons."

"Heh, heh, heh… Good, good… So _kyoudai_ feels like they will be as frail as these guys… How foolish of the guy…!"

"Truly."

"Well then… I've got some stuff to handle in the city… Darth Bapgei will drop by later and if you wanna have a chat go ahead. Tell him about what I told you: it's something vague after all so…"

"Alright."

"Master?"

"Ah! Darth Bapgei. Earlier than I'd thought…"

"Sorry. I forgot the library was closed today and thus my ETA was wrong, Master."

"Don't mind it… I'll be a back in a lil while after I handle some errands in the town… Later."

"Roger, Master."

Philip came in and sat down on the sofa: the 5 guys had already departed and only Zoan Gate Man remained there.

"Well. It'd seem Twilight – sama has prepared some fabulous strategy which will bring a lot of profits to us but he's being very vague with it for safety reasons… But it'd seem we'll soon figure out what it's about so it'll be worth the wait…" He explained.

"Cool. OK. I don't want to bother you so I'll go to my room."

"Fine. I've got to compile and work on the Legion 64 reports anyway so I'll be busy for a lil while too…"

"OK."

Philip headed into the secret basement and pulled out a sheet to reveal a metallic column which was barely a meter tall and which had a metallic base with some restrains for the legs plus two wrists restrains attached to its sides: it included a piston with two thick vibrators filled with dots and which looked threatening.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'll try it out on myself."

He pulled down his shorts and boxers and took out his shirt too as he rummaged on his shorts' pockets and took out a pair of clothes and the set of four vibrators: he strapped them with cello-tape over his nipples while he clipped the clothes pegs and also tightened the base of his cock with a bit of rope.

"And next…"

He inserted the bead string inside of his cock and capped it with the bell vibrator: he then immobilized his legs but obviously left his hands free as he picked a remote and turned the machine on.

"Fuck me over and over again, _dude_. I wanna feel it over and over again!"

The machine's piston began to pump into him as he turned on his vibrators and he moaned and groaned from the feeling: he simply remained like that and let it pump into him with an increasing pace (because he increased the speed mode) and his moans turned louder and louder.

"Yeah! More! I want more! I'm an excellent masochist… And one day I'll be in control of those weaklings… I'll teach them how to become good guys to be used by the clients!"

He pulled out the bell vibrator and the beads' string to release and laughed at the sensation: he then stopped the machine and removed all of the stuff.

"Huff, huff… Overwhelming! Too bad those guys out there don't realize it: all of my buddies always talking about wanting to fuck a girl… Hah! That's outdated. Guy on guy is good! I dunno why there's always been so much controversy but… Meh! Let them be."

He dressed up again and stored his stuff but before that he rubbed his fingers to get them stained with his white stuff and licked it up to enjoy it while chuckling.

"I'll become an apprentice worth of Master's training… And Nelaus Rainon can do as he likes… Think that the one who assaulted him was but a program… Heh, heh, heh… Or some crazy guy out there… They can't suspect me and why should they? Philip Erson is no-one: just another guy out there amongst 4 billion humans."

He walked back to the ground floor and into his bedroom where he pulled a comic book from a shelf.

"Let's read this… _Tintin: The Red Sea Sharks_… Promises to be cool and full of adventure! A billion blue blistering barnacles!"

He laid face-down on the bed and chuckled as he began to read the comic book: he calmly turned pages.

_I'm not sure what "Pentagon Scheme" is about but it's gotta be cool: IT'LL BE cool! Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! See ya around the district, fellows! _

14:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Here I am! This time around… No one will save your ugly hide! Higure Yamitarou!"

Commander Beef exclaimed as he stepped into Higureya at a military pace and looking like he wanted a new brawl.

"Ah! It's him again! De masu! There's the lousy loser! De masu!" Higure cursed and drew a broom.

"I'm so gonna strangle you!" Commander Beef menaced.

"I'm so gonna kick you out, de masu!" Higure swung the broom.

"There's no way around?" Shark Man rolled his eyes.

"Both of them are impossible." Number Man sighed.

TATARARII!

The infamous trumpet rang out.

"O~h! The cavalry! I must be firm!"

Commander Beef assumed a saluting pose, facing the street door while Higure grinned: Charles stepped in at a military pace.

"Huh? Senator Morgangantz!" He was surprised.

"Hmmm…"

Charles walked up to Commander Beef and looked at him.

"You're going to be placed under a three-day arrest for having an illegal moustache!" He announced while pointing an accusing finger at the moustache.

"WHAT IN THE TUNAS? I'm gonna…!" He raised his arms.

"That's it! See you around! And let's hope you've earned your lesson, Recruit Beef!" He laughed.

"The cavalry is very strict, in case you didn't know! Recruit Beef!"

"These guys…!"

"Trouble." Shark Man sighed.

"Commander Beef."

"The fish-store tuna smells…"

Saloma and Miyuki came in to tell him the news while both Wood Man and Skull Man looked fed up at having to stop these fights every time they popped out.

"Commander Beef! The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… Retire!"

"Retire from duty~? NO WAY~!" He yelled.

"Hah! De masu! The Luck God smiles on me! Masu!"

"He doesn't."

CRASH!

"De masu~!"

"MY TUNA~!"

"Huff."

Commander Beef ran out, Higure collapsed, both women fumed and the Navis sighed in defeat.

"What's with this town? It's getting crazier by the season!" Saloma protested aloud.

"… Grudge-filled souls haunt us, you folk…" Miyuki muttered.

"Oh come on. Quit it." Wood Man fumed.

"Miyuki! Don't overdo it either." Skull Man warned.

"I'm off. I want to tend to my store."

"Next time let's wash him with cold water."

"Oh yes! I totally agree. This moron also needs a cold water shower too!"

15:16 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! VP – sama."

"What do you want now, Laika?"

"It'd seem you're about to be promoted."

"No way. I'm not even 16 yet."

"Search Man… Can't you tell Laika to stop?"

"It's not in my programming."

"Can't you be less rigid?"

"… Huff. Believe me, Blues, when I say this: I've tried but nothing seems to work at all. No matter how many times I insist or try it…"

"Lovely. Why do these things happen to us to begin with? We go through the same at the end of each campaign."

"I don't know…"

"Desu! Is this the spot?"

"I don't see anything."

"Guts, guts!"

"I think we picked the wrong road…"

Enzan had been enduring Laika's jokes over the PET while Blues and Search Man discussed about that: they heard voices and Ice Man, Roll, Guts Man and Glyde walked into the area.

"How did you guys get in?" Enzan groaned.

"Huh? We wanted to go to the new concert hall in Internet City but the Warp Point led us here instead." Meiru admitted.

"Hah! Enzan's company Cyber World is stiff. Mine is decorated with lots and lots of screen-savers!" Yaito giggled.

"Who the heck would alter a Warp Point?" Tooru wondered.

"Dunno…" Dekao admitted.

"So! Llor, Edylg, Nam Stug and Nam Eci gathered to meet Nam Hcraes and Seulb?" A voice rang out.

"… Shadow Man." Search Man and Blues grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh… Welcome to the party, _shokun_."

"You mean "fellows"." Laika sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I preferred him serious!"

"Oh my! Is this the Ayanokouji House?"

"I'm not sure, Princess Pride…"

"Oh! Knight Man!"

"Ladies and gentlemen… What's the deal…? Huh! Shadow Man!"

"Did you forget? I'm in you guys' side now…"

Knight Man had stepped into the spot too and he gasped before Shadow Man reminded him of which side he was on now.

"Anyway… I didn't alter the Warp Point."

"… Sigma!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Calling on Magis, Machis' lil cousin… Ya don't know Machis, the Kuchiba City Gym Leader? Heh, heh, heh. He's the 3rd Gym in Gen I and III and the 11th in Gen II! The Elec-Type Specialist!"

Sigma appeared there while chuckling and everyone regarded him with pretty annoyed faces.

"I say yo and behold and behold and yo~!"

They didn't bother to reply so Sigma merely shrugged, patted the floor with the Sigma Sword before warping out of the Cyber World.

"That Sigma…!" The Operators (save Pride) muttered.

"That Sigma…!" The Navis (save Knight Man) grumbled.

15:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Where'd you go off to?"

"To CPI!"

"… IPC? What for…?"

"Ask PV – amas!"

"Stop mirroring things: what have you done to Ijuuin – kun?"

"Bring 'im some folk to visit 'im!"

"Jeez. You messed with the Warp Point."

"Correct! Bloody – chan!"

"Leave me alone and save your jokes for your ego."

"My OGE! Bring me my OGE! My kingdom for my OGE! Orbital Great Engine!"

"Patent it: tell the patent office how it works, what it works and all that stuff and then sell it to NASA so that they can build the successor to the Space Shuttle. Move it, bad big guy."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

Sigma returned to the Hikari house's bedroom PC and began to joke with Blood Shadow who tried to shoo him away with some tale or idea which he improvised along the way out of exasperation: Sigma chuckled and ran off to the relief of Blood Shadow.

"Yum! Today's meal was delicious! Mama's the best cook! Don't ya think so, Saito – niisan? Tell me ya do: I saw your eager face!"

"That's because you're so glutton-like, Netto – kun."

Netto and Saito stepped into the bedroom and sat on the chairs in front of the PC to resume the homework which they'd seemingly stopped to go have the lunch.

"So, Blood. What happened?"

"Sigma. He was meddling around as usual."

"Why can't he do anything else of profit, anyway?" Saito sighed.

"I guess Commander Omega and Boss will need to scold him a bit to keep him in line if we want him to be ready to fight back those "Pentagon Scheme" guys whenever they show up."

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten about that. But let's not worry about them: what can 5 of them do against over 15 defenders? They can be harder to beat like the Darkloids but… We outnumber them 3:1!"

"Mwah, hah, hah. But Mendicant Bias' fleet outnumbered Offensive Bias' one 436.6:1!" Sigma suddenly returned.

"What in the…" Both gasped.

"Jeez. _Halo 3_: the Terminals… They tell the story of the "Forerunners" the artifacts of which were left across the Milky Way Galaxy… 100,000 years before the games' age, which is the 2550s… One of their high-class AIs defected to the compound mind parasite Flood and took over a huge fleet including all kinds of ships while another AI prepared a second smaller fleet to try to stall for time until the "Halo" super-weapons got activated and all sentient life in the galaxy got annihilated thus destroying most of the Flood before re-seeding life… The enemy originally commanded just 1000 vessels but added a large extra bulk of about 4,802,019… That's why the AI calculated that he was outnumbered 436.6:1."

"And who won?" Both eagerly asked.

"Well… The battle raged for about 10 hours… Close to the turning point Mendicant's fleet effectiveness had dropped to about 80%... The Halos fired and then the tables turned… In less than one minute and half later Offensive outnumbers 6:1… And another two minutes later he captured Mendicant and the battle got won… I'll show you the full text later."

"Cool. So that means that we shouldn't be confident because there might be something which could turn the tide around?" Netto guessed.

"You gave us a good lesson there, Sigma."

"Mwah, hah, hah. See~? Commander Omega told me!"

"Alright. If Commander Omega said then there's no problem."

"Mwah, hah, ha. Let those Pentagon guys come: we'll send 'em to the Pentagon!"

"Jeez. Stop with your lame puns already."

"Sigma… We're trying to work: can't you go play something else?"

"Yeah. We need some concentration too."

"Alright! I'm off to preparing a new round of puns with Shadow Man and to help Number Man scare Higure Yamitarou to fright and height!"

He ran off, laughing, while they fumed and resumed working on their homework in silence while Blood Shadow calmly used a holographic screen to read something.

"… Huff. It's done." Netto sighed in relief.

"Let me check… Alright. It's neat enough. You wrote your name: OK. I'm almost done here: do what you like but try not to be too noisy."

"OK, Saito – niisan."

Netto picked a _tankobon_ and began to silently read it up while Saito finished his homework: he walked out into the balcony and looked out.

"… Pentagon Scheme… Bah. Nothing to get worried about… As long as keep on improving and evolving… Then some meek Navis won't be able to overcome our unity, bonds and friendship. If the WWW, Gospel and Nebula and all the others couldn't…" He calmly muttered.

"That's the Saito – kun I know." Blood Shadow smiled.

"Yup! That's my Saito – niisan! Let's fight together as one! And we'll win!"

"Mwah, hah, hah… We'll win! Yessir… Sigma – sama promises you that!"

The group giggled or chuckled together as one…

**THE END**


End file.
